Atlassian Williams F1 Team: Our Journey

A deep dive into the storied history of Atlassian Williams F1 Team, one of the most successful teams in Formula 1

Published

16 JAN 2026

Est. reading time

19 min

Having been on the grid for nearly half a century, Atlassian Williams F1 Team are, understandably, often called one of Formula 1's heritage or classic teams.

Just two constructors on today's grid have a longer history in the sport than us since our 1970s foundations, so there's a lot of backstory to cover if you're a new fan of F1 or the team.

To help you get up to speed with everything Williams, or if you're a lifelong follower who wants a trip down memory lane, we've created guides on how Williams of today came to be.

Pick a decade below, or begin with our early origins.

1970s – 1980s – 1990s – 2000s – 2010s – 2020s

Pre-1977

The early years: Frank Williams' origins and team formation

While the modern Formula 1 world is a sleek and well-refined operation requiring immense manpower and pinpoint planning to function, the motorsport environment Frank Williams grew up in through his 20s and 30s was a wildly different story.

Privateer entries — cars bought from a supplier rather than constructed internally — were commonplace, and that's how Frank Williams made his initial foray into the paddock.

Frank Williams Racing Cars, effectively the forerunner to Atlassian Williams F1 Team, made its first foray into the World Championship in 1969 at the Spanish GP, running a Brabham BT26A with a 3.0-litre Ford Cosworth V8 powering a single entry.

Piers Courage was the man to pilot the car after a stop-start F1 career spotted with some junior championship running in Frank's Formula Two and Tasman Series entries.

Although that maiden Spanish GP saw a Lap 18 engine failure, Courage advanced nine positions to take P2 at the 1969 Monaco GP two weeks later, properly announcing the Frank Williams name to the sport.

After doubling up that silverware-winning success at Watkins Glen in the US Grand Prix, the 1970s proved far less fruitful for Frank Williams Racing Cars.

A fatal crash for Courage in the 1970 Dutch GP and various issues with chassis development, staffing, and funding over the decade had Frank eventually lose majority ownership of the team to Walter Wolf, a Canadian millionaire, by 1976.

Although the newly formed Wolf-Williams partnership rapidly deteriorated, causing Frank to leave, his departure formed the groundwork for future success.

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1977-79

Sir Patrick Head (L) and Sir Frank Williams (R) outside our Didcot factory in 1978 with the FW06

Establishing a presence: Williams Grand Prix Engineering

The transformational moment for Frank came in 1977 with the formation of Williams Grand Prix Engineering, a venture he embarked upon with Patrick Head, an astute and innovative engineer he hired as Chief Designer at Wolf-Williams.

This partnership proved to be a pivotal turning point — Head's technical expertise and Williams' leadership and vision combined to create a new force in Formula 1.

After a partial campaign in 1977 using a bought-in March chassis, Williams Grand Prix Engineering's subsequent seasons saw rapid development and significant progress, far surpassing what Frank Williams Racing Cars ever achieved.

Frank and Patrick debuted their first in-house car, the FW06, in 1978. It proved a competitive and reliable machine, qualifying for every race and reaching the podium at the US Grand Prix with Australian Alan Jones at the helm.

Alan Jones in the FW06 on his way to our maiden podium at Watkins Glen in 1978

Winning with Williams: A taste of victory

Alan found his highest success at Williams, but the inevitable first F1 triumph did not come thanks to the capable hands of the Melbourne man.

The 1979 season saw veteran Swiss racer Clay Regazzoni joining to turn the Williams Grand Prix Engineering operation into a two-car team for the first time.

Patrick's ground effect FW07 creation replaced the FW06 partway through the season, and five grands prix later saw Alan take the team's first pole position at the team's home race, the British GP.

Alan was on course to take the win, leading Clay at the halfway point, but an engine failure handed the historic victory to his Swiss teammate — Frank's first top-step conquest in the sport.

Clay Regazzoni stands on the top step at Silverstone after securing our first win

Any disappointment for Alan was short-lived, though, as the FW07 was a potent machine that took the Aussie to the front, winning four of the next five races and surging the team to P2 in the Constructors' championship.

Incredibly, though, the best of that car and Alan was still to come…

1980s

FW07: Championship glory

After establishing the Williams name as a serious player at the top of motorsport with the breakthrough 1979 season, the team had two attractive seats for drivers.

Alan had a new name alongside him in 1981 when the regular podium-finishing Argentine driver Carlos Reutemann joined to bring his expertise and experience.

A two-year partnership between Alan and Carlos proved fruitful, and the team took consecutive Constructors' Championship titles with incredible end-of-season point tallies.

Alan Jones leads the field away at the 1980 Austrian GP

First came the then-record 120 points in 1980, along with an equally record-breaking 54-point margin over P2, before another comfortable title in 1981.

The FW07 and its FW07B and FW07C evolutions were at the heart of the success, a ground-effect car that represented the pinnacle of aerodynamic technology of the time.

Fast and reliable, the FW07 gave Alan and Carlos a competitive edge over their rivals, with Alan taking his sole and Williams' first World Drivers' Championship in 1980.

Although the Drivers' Championship eluded either racer in 1981, as Carlos narrowly missed the title by a single point to Nelson Piquet, the team's overall performance with their second Constructors' crown was a testament to the engineering excellence behind the FW07.

New names: the Rosberg years

The mid-1980s were a period of transition and consolidation for Williams. While the team remained competitive, they faced intense rivalry from other top teams like McLaren and Ferrari.

As Alan retired from the sport at the end of 1981 and Carlos promptly following just a handful of races into the 1982 season, Williams had new faces in the garage.

Keke Rosberg (L) deep in conversation with Patrick Head

Keke Rosberg, a Finnish driver known for his raw speed and tenacious racing style, brought a fresh dynamic to the team — not to mention being the father of Nico, who would drive for us two decades later, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Keke's tenure with Williams continued until 1985 as an everpresent figure while partnering Mario Andretti, Jacques Laffite, and eventually the team's first full-time British driver, Nigel Mansell.

The 1982 season proved both challenging and rewarding for the team, with Keke getting used to his new surroundings and having a front-running car for the first time.

An unpredictable championship battle had the team take just one victory at the Swiss Grand Prix at the hands of Keke, something that remarkably still netted the Finn the Drivers' Championship.

His consistent point finishes in a season marred by retirements and fatalities meant Williams won their fourth championship trophy, but it became the last one for many years.

A shift to turbocharged engines represented a major technological change in Formula 1, with Williams lagging a little behind, and a move away from the popular Ford Cosworth DFV engine followed.

Back to the front: Honda V6

Three years of picking up a solitary win per season after so much success in 1980 and 1981 saw the team needing to fire back into life.

Switching to Honda as an engine supplier helped the Williams name become a competitive force again, as Keke and Nigel enjoyed turbocharged power in 1985, albeit with reliability not on their side.

Keke left for McLaren after a four-year spell with Williams, and two-time champion Nelson Piquet joined to partner Nigel for two successful and often firey seasons together.

Nelson Piquet (L) and Nigel Mansell (R) with Alain Prost ahead of the 1986 Australian GP

With more reliability and some 800 bhp powering the drivers in race trim, the 1986 FW11 was almost peerless, and the new pairing shared seven podiums over the 16-race season to win the Constructors' Championship for Williams.

However, neither driver would take the Drivers' title that year as they duelled the emerging talent Ayrton Senna and eventual champion Alain Prost over the year.

This fearsome foursome continued to lead the way into the 1987 season, too, but with the two Williams drivers firmly on top as the Honda power combined with active suspension made the FW11B the best car on the grid.

Nelson and Nigel fought ferociously for the title, but an injury for Nigel in the penultimate round at Japan settled the fight early.

Nelson took his third championship, with Williams celebrating their fourth Constructors' Championship success.

Although a move away from Honda in 1988 led to a brief downturn in fortune, the 1980s closed with Williams firmly established as a leading force in Formula 1.

1990s

The Early 90s: refinding form

Honda's departure to McLaren in the late 80s led to some soul-searching seasons for Williams as Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost intensified their rivalry in repeat championship fights at the top.

Some wins came in 1989 and 1990, but a turning of the tide only came in 1991 alongside Nigel Mansell's return as we got a handle on Renault's 3.5-litre V10 engine.

However, Nigel wasn't the only signing that brought about a change of fortunes.

Patrick signed a relatively new name in the Formula 1 world, who would later become synonymous with success: Adrian Newey.

The partnership between Patrick and Adrian led the 1991 challenger to multiple runs of consecutive victories between Nigel and teammate Riccardo Patrese, not to mention kept Williams in the Constructors' Championship hunt until the last round.

Finessing this winning combination followed in 1992 with an evolution of the already impressive 91 car to create the highly advanced FW14B.

Nigel Mansell in the iconic FW14B

While teething problems caused mechanical retirements in 1991 with the FW14, the FW14B ironed out those gremlins and introduced traction control and an improved cutting-edge active suspension system.

The result was 10 victories and pole position at all but one race (where Riccardo was just 0.097s adrift) in a controlling season that finally had Nigel become champion after three previous P2 championship finishes.

Settling in at the top: Triple-Championship triumphs

After clinching our third double-title glory in 1992, the question was whether a new driving partnership could repeat the achievement in 1993.

Nigel had retired from F1 to head stateside while Riccardo left to join Benetton.

This changing of the guard saw a combination of experience and emerging talent come to our Oxfordshire base as three-time champion Alain Prost joined alongside F1 newcomer Damon Hill.

Again, the Patrick and Adrian combination developed a potent engineering masterpiece, the FW15C, combining the technology from the championship-winning FW14B with improved aerodynamics.

Alain Prost in the FW15C

Alain won on his debut and stormed to 13 pole positions at the 16 races that season, with Damon picking up two P1 starts in his maiden full season to see Williams taking an incredible 30 poles over a 32-race period.

As you might expect, the Alain-Damon partnership matched their predecessors, winning both titles, but Alain also mimicked outgoing champion Nigel by retiring from the sport as champion.

With his rival out of Formula 1, Ayrton Senna took the Frenchman's place to join Damon in 1994 but tragically lost his life early in the season at the San Marino GP.

F1 rookie David Coulthard stepped in most of the tumultuous year, with Nigel returning when his CART commitments allowed.

Together, the all-British Damon-David-Nigel combination brought home the seventh Constructors' Championship title and our third successive season of success.

Making History: Taking talent to titles

Damon and David continued into 1995, but the drives of German Michael Schumacher had Williams end the year without the Constructors' or Drivers' titles.

That season would prove the blip in a six-year run, however, and new signing Jacques Villeneuve, the 1995 CART champion, came in alongside Damon for an all-Williams title fight.

Jacques' retirement in the 1996 season finale ended his hopes of becoming the rookie champion; Damon instead reigned supreme in a year where Williams finished 105 points ahead of the runners-up.

Damon crosses the line in P1 at the 1996 Brazilian GP

Damon's title-winning success saw him become the first F1 driver to follow in their father's footsteps to become a world champion, taking the crown 28 years after Graham Hill's second and final championship.

Jacques, son of an F1 race winner himself, didn't have to wait long for his chance to join the record books, though, with a title scrap against Schumacher in 1997.

As had happened one year earlier, the fight went down to the final race, and a dramatic moment between Jacques and his German adversary saw the latter's disqualification from the entire championship season after a deliberate collision.

Nonetheless, Jacques and Williams took both titles, our most recent successes, to see us with the 16 titles we proudly have today.

The exit of Renault from Formula 1 and Adrian's departure from the team ahead of 1998 led to two winless seasons, but we again fought back to reach the winner's step when we entered the new millennium.

2000s

A promising start to the millennium

The turn of the century had Williams leveraging the engineering expertise that had brought so much success in previous seasons, leading to a decade of podiums and victories but no titles.

With the might of BMW as an engine partner, a collaboration that brought renewed impetus to their competitiveness after frustrating seasons in 1998 and 1999, the team re-established themselves as race winners.

Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya became the drivers to spearhead the team's fight forward against old foes Ferrari and McLaren.

Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya were teammates for the best part of four seasons

The trio of teams locked out the top three Constructors' championship positions in the four years between 2000 and 2003 as Ralf's brother Michael brought success to Maranello.

Both Schumachers were winning races, though, as Ralf took his first F1 victory and Williams' first in three years at the 2001 San Marino GP before following up with two more that season.

Juan Pablo and Ralf formed a potent partnership, with the former in the 2003 championship hunt, as Williams took two vice-champion Constructors slots over '02 and '03 before sliding back in '04.

Challenges and changes: adjusting engines

With BMW announcing a move to another team in 2005 for the 2006 season, Williams moved back to Cosworth power for a year and welcomed a familiar name: Rosberg.

Keke Rosberg had won his world championship with the team in 1982, and his son Nico made an immediate impression on his F1 debut, taking points and the fastest lap at the 2006 Bahrain GP.

Frustratingly, Bahrain was a false start for the season as retirements plagued both cars and the lowest points tally since the team's maiden 1978 season followed.

The decision to partner with Toyota for 2007 brought back more regular point-scoring ways, but victories proved elusive, and Alex Wurz's P3 in Canada was the season's high point.

Nico took to the podium himself in the 2008 season in Australia and Singapore, but these were flashes of speed and strategy rather than the consistent pace needed for championship hopes.

Nico Rosberg secured the first podium of his career at the inaugural Singapore GP

More points came in 2009 from Nico's regular top-10 finishes and the team's engineering prowess in developing the downforce-generating double diffuser for the FW31.

However, midfield competition was tight, and a P7 Constructors' Championship rounded out the decade.

With Toyota deciding to pull out of Formula 1 for 2010, another rocky period loomed ahead, but the 2000s had taught us a lot about resilience and adaptation.

2010s

A new start

Toyota's departure from Formula 1, as both a rival team and our engine supplier, at the end of 2009 signalled another shift for Williams.

We entered the 2010 season with engines from Cosworth, a partnership harking back to earlier days, but the iconic name wasn't as competitive as it once was.

Nico Hulkenberg celebrates his pole position at the 2010 Brazilian GP

The season was better than 2009 but still short of where we'd like to be as we grappled for form under the new partnership of veteran driver Rubens Barrichello and rookie Nico Hülkenberg.

Pastor Maldonado replaced Nico in 2011, but these final years of Williams-Cosworth only showed glimpses of potential while primarily battling in the midfield.

A brief return to Renault and mixed fortunes

In 2012, Williams made a nostalgic switch back to Renault engines, reminiscent of their dominant days in the 1990s.

This partnership began with plenty of hope after a stunning victory at the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, as the back-and-forth season saw seven winners in the opening seven rounds.

Pastor delivered a masterful performance to storm to pole position on Saturday and follow up one day later with a famous win over local hero Fernando Alonso.

Pastor Maldonado is held aloft after his Barcelona win, one of the iconic images from the 2010s

That weekend was a poignant reminder of Williams’ ability to compete at the highest level, yet remained an isolated highlight in a period otherwise marked by inconsistency and challenges.

2013 was no better, and we fell to our second season in three with just five points and a P9 finish by the last race, with a rookie, Valtteri Bottas, taking our best finish in the USA with eighth place.

Wholesale changes and a promising period

The mid-2010s saw every team on the grid grappling with the advent of hybrid power as Formula 1 began its sustainable future.

Williams was no exception and entered F1's new era partnered with Mercedes in 2014 in our first collaboration with the German giant.

Valtteri emerged as a strong talent, consistently delivering points and impressive performances, with another Brazilian, Felipe Massa, establishing himself at Grove.

The Massa-Bottas partnership delivered regular points and podiums at the start of the hybrid era.

Although victory eluded us, multiple podium finishes from both drivers came in 2014, 2015, and 2016 as our trophy cabinet returned to expanding ways.

Two P3 finishes in the Constructors' Championship to begin the turbo-hybrid era gave signs of encouragement, with the double podium at the 2014 finale being a highlight when we scored the most points ever in an F1 race.

Lower midfield turbulence

Frustratingly, the team struggled to maintain this upward trajectory, facing stiff competition as other engine suppliers closed the gap on the powerful Mercedes power unit.

The departure of Valtteri to Mercedes in 2017 marked the end of a promising era, as the team looked to new talents like Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin to lead them forward.

Lance Stroll became the youngest rookie to stand on the podium after a P3 finish in Baku, 2017

Ever-inflating budgets and the retirement of Felipe coincided with a slow but undeniable slip down the pecking order, and top-10 results again became the exception rather than the rule.

By 2019, a solitary point-scoring finish at the chaotic German Grand Prix had us ending the decade with difficulty and two P10 championship finishes.

Yet, there are always highs after every low in Williams’ history, and the 2020s proved we would bounce back with another resilient spell to show signs of progress for a brighter future.

2020s

A new decade, a new direction

The team, grappling with competitive and financial challenges, saw a change in ownership in 2020, with the Williams family stepping away and Dorilton Capital taking the helm.

This transition marked the end of an era but also the beginning of a new chapter with fresh investment and a renewed commitment to returning to competitiveness.

Claire Williams at the final race of Williams family ownership, Monza 2020

Although Frank and daughter Claire left the team, their surname remained above the door and on the car to never forget the legacy the Williams family built.

With a global pandemic as the backdrop and a truncated F1 season to contend with, 2020 was a transitional year, and the team focused on building a solid foundation for the future.

George Russell, a rising star who joined in 2019, showed promise, often outperforming the car's capabilities, especially in qualifying.

Nicholas Latifi joined as his teammate, and they worked together towards gradual improvements, aiming to lift the team from the back of the grid after the low ebb of a point-less year in 2020.

Points to prove

A sweeping regulation change, often the opportunity to climb through the order as teams scramble to interpret new rules, was delayed for a year after the pandemic's disruption.

With the FW43B being a stronger car than 2020's FW43 but still far from a radical overhaul, any progress up the order would be welcome, especially under the team's first non-Williams Team Principal, Jost Capito.

Nicky and George found themselves closer to the top 10 than before, but it took until the halfway mark to end the team's points drought.

Although George had his worst qualifying of the year at Hungary, both cars ended the race in points-paying positions, and a rival's disqualification advanced each one place higher to P7 and P8.

On the other side of the summer break following our Hungarian success was the soaking 2021 Belgian GP... and another double-points haul.

When Saturday’s efforts delivered Sunday’s celebrations, Spa 2021

George's stellar qualifying P2 performance transformed into a podium once the stewards curtailed the race to take our first trophy since 2017 and our most recent today.

2022: Ground effect returns

After their delay in 2021, 2022 was a landmark year in Formula 1, with the introduction of revolutionary technical regulations.

These new rules, the most significant change in years, aimed to promote closer racing and improve the overall spectacle and had a much deeper focus on ground-effect aerodynamics.

For Williams, this represented an opportunity to set a base for the future return to the midfield and beyond, now aided by Alex Albon, who replaced George after the Brit's three-season stint.

On the track, 2022 wasn't the leap forward we hoped for, and the FW44 showed glimpses of potential but largely struggled to compete consistently in the midfield.

However, Alex's experience was pivotal in extracting the most from the car, and he brought home early points in Australia and Miami with masterful strategic drives.

Meanwhile, Nicky would wait until later in the season to add to his career points tally, bringing home an excellent P9 finish at the wet-weather Japanese GP to have us end the year with eight points.

Although this was another unwanted P10 in the championship standings, it was a far cry from other struggling years, with an upward swing for the future looking likely.

Strengthening the structure

The early 2020s saw change as Grove settled into life under the new ownership, including drivers and management.

James Vowles arrived at Grove ahead of the 2023 season

With Alex more than proving his worth in his maiden Williams season, a new face joined him for 2023 as our talent pipeline from the Driver Academy bore fruit.

Logan Sargeant, America's first full-time F1 driver since 2007, stepped up to the pinnacle of motorsport after showing his potential in Formula 2 as the top rookie, including piloting our FW44 in some 2022 FP1 sessions.

There were changes at the top, too, with James Vowles joining the team to spearhead the charge after celebrating eight consecutive championship-winning seasons thanks to his strategic expertise.

The FW45, our 2023 challenger, was a step forward in performance, and Alex took points at the season-opening Bahrain GP, with Logan just two places behind.

Getting stronger and stronger as the year progressed with the new dynamic gelling more and more, eight further top 10 finishes scored us more points, and we took our best championship finish since 2017 with 28 points to our name.

Laying the foundations

With dramatically new regulations slated for 2026, James Vowles challenged the team to use these next two seasons as opportunities to push everything at Grove to its limits – “break everything.”

On track, the team found themselves initially further back than where they had ended in 2023, but a first points finish of the year did come at Monaco – our first in the principality for almost a decade.

Midway through the 2024 season it would be announced that Williams had won the race to secure the services of four-time Grand Prix winner, Carlos Sainz. A statement of intent in the project that was underway.

Franco Colapinto would graduate from the Driver Academy to race in the final nine Grands Prix of the year, and he instantly hit the ground running.

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the team picked up their best result since 2017, as Alex and Franco came home in P7 and P8 – the first double-points finish under James Vowles.

A P9 finish in the 2024 Constructors’ did represent a step back, but these were part of the sacrifices the team were willing to take in order to push forward in the long run.

The team came out of the blocks flying in 2025, with Alex immediately securing his best ever result for Williams with a P5 finish at the Melbourne opener.

Points were secured in seven of the first eight rounds, five of which were secured by both Alex and Carlos as we enjoyed our best start to a year since 2016 – but the best was yet to come.

Celebrations following a memorable P3 finish in Baku

After a dramatic qualifying session in Baku, Carlos secured P2 on the grid which he duly converted into P3 on race day, our first full race podium finish since 2017… but he wasn’t done there.

A P3 in the Austin Sprint race represented our best finish in that format to date, before a second Grand Prix P3 of the year came at the Qatar Grand Prix.

With regular points finishes from both drivers, Williams finished with 137 points in the championship, securing P5 in the Constructors’ with both Alex and Carls in the top 10 of the Drivers’ Standings.

A best season in over a decade had given the team a perfect boost of momentum heading into the all new regulatory era.