Our British GP Wins - Part II: 90s

As we gear up for the 2023 British Grand Prix and celebrate our 800th F1 race, we at Williams Racing are looking back at our history at our home race.

The British GP is the event where we've won the most with 10 victories. Six of those came in the 1990s when four Williams racers triumphed at Silverstone as the Northamptonshire track established itself as the home of British motor racing.

Drivers: Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese

Qualifying: Mansell - P1, Patrese - P3

Race: Mansell - P1, Patrese - DNF

After a couple of seasons for Ferrari, Nigel Mansell found his way back to Grove for the 1991 season and resumed his Williams-winning ways at the British GP on his way to P2 in the standings.

Unlike any of his other home wins, Nigel started the race from pole position after setting a time nearly seven-tenths quicker than championship rival Ayrton Senna.

Senna, however, was the leader into Turn 1 after Nigel suffered wheelspin off the line, leaving the Brit to regain the lead on the run down the Hangar Straight.

Teammate Riccardo Patrese couldn't help Nigel fight Senna after an early collision with Gerhard Berger at Copse. However, the home hero didn't need rear-gunner support and cruised to a win even with a late-race gearbox problem, somewhat helped by Senna's McLaren running out of fuel on the last lap.

Senna's misfortune led to arguably the most iconic shot in F1, with Nigel stopping on his in-lap to give his Brazilian title rival a ride back to the pits on his FW14.

Drivers: Nigel Mansell and Riccardo Patrese

Qualifying: Mansell - P1, Patrese - P2

Race: Mansell - P1, Patrese - P2

If you believe in destiny, then you'll know Nigel was always going to win his home race in his championship-winning season.

In what would be his final British GP victory, Nigel blitzed the competition to take pole position by an incredible 1.919s ahead of teammate Riccardo in the second FW14B.

Although Our Nige lost the lead off the line, again wheel spinning his rear tyres, Riccardo's time in P1 lasted just one corner as Nigel blasted past him before Maggotts to retake the lead that turned into a dominant win of 39 seconds in a Williams 1-2.

Drivers: Alain Prost and Damon Hill

Qualifying: Prost - P1, Hill - P2

Race: Prost - P1, Hill - DNF

Although we sported an all-new line-up for 1993, that didn't slow the team down as Alain Prost and Damon Hill took another Williams 1-2 front row in qualifying and a victory in the race.

Alain's pursuit of his fourth title had him enter the race 12 points ahead of Senna, but he looked like he would not win at Silverstone when Damon roared by at the race start to delight the home fans.

Even with Nigel now racing in America, it seemed the British fans would see a compatriot win, but a fiery engine failure ended Damon's race.

Alain retook P1 with Damon out of the running and recorded his penultimate F1 victory on his way to his final title before retiring from the sport.

Drivers: Damon Hill and David Coulthard

Qualifying: Hill - P1, Coulthard - P7

Race: Hill - P1, Coulthard - P5

An all-British Williams line-up appeared at Silverstone for the 1994 British Grand Prix as Damon had rookie David Coulthard alongside him in the garage.

Despite Michael Schumacher's control of the season up to then, Damon pipped the German to pole position by just 0.003s, with David qualifying in P7.

Unfortunately for DC, he stalled on the grid but admirably crossed the line in P5 after a spirited fightback from the back of the pack.

Despite some formation lap mind games as Schumacher overtook Damon on his way to the grid, the Englishman won the race with Schumacher ultimately disqualified from P2 for his pre-race antics, kickstarting Damon's 1994 title hopes.

Drivers: Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve

Qualifying: Hill - P1, Villeneuve - P2

Race: Villeneuve - P1, Hill - DNF

Damon took pole position in front of a cheering home crowd for a third consecutive year, but the British driver wasn't the victor when the chequered flag waved.

F1 newcomer and reigning Champ Car champion Jacques Villeneuve started alongside Damon at the race start and took the lead after his teammate's poor getaway had him tumble down the order.

A front-left wheel failure meant Damon retired from the race at Copse, leaving Jacques as the sole remaining FW18 in a race the Canadian won with relative ease for his second F1 victory.

Drivers: Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen

Qualifying: Villeneuve - P1, Frentzen - P2

Race: Villeneuve - P1, Frentzen - DNF

Jacques took a crucial Silverstone win to keep him in the championship fight against Schumacher, who had a sizeable 14-point lead heading into the British GP.

The Canadian racer had Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the sister FW19 on the front row to start the race, but a stall at the start for the German before an opening lap crash had Jacques fighting the other teams off by himself.

Fortunately, Heinz-Harald's retirement was one of 12 DNFs in the race, including Michael Schumacher and Mika Häkkinen, who each led the race when mechanical failures ended their Sunday running.

The retirements allowed Jacques to take a second consecutive British GP win, and he closed up to just four points behind Schumacher, eventually taking his F1 championship crown in the 1997 season finale.