Frank Williams
Encyclopedia
Sir Francis Owen Garbatt Williams CBE
(born 16 April 1942) is founder and manager of the WilliamsF1
Formula One
racing team.
, Tyne and Wear
, England
, son of a serving RAF
officer and a special education
teacher (and later headmistress), Williams was largely brought up by his maternal aunt and uncle in Jarrow
when his parents' marriage broke down. He subsequently spent much of his later childhood at a private, fee-paying boarding school, St. Joseph's College, Dumfries, in Scotland. In the late 1950s a friend gave Williams a ride in his Jaguar
XK150
and young Frank was immediately hooked.
in 1966. He ran drivers including Piers Courage
and Tony Trimmer
for several years in Formula Two
and Formula Three
. Williams purchased a Brabham Formula One chassis, which Courage drove throughout the 1969 Formula One season
, twice finishing in second place.
In 1970 Williams undertook a brief partnership with Alessandro de Tomaso. After the death of Courage at the Dutch Grand Prix
that year, Williams's relationship with de Tomaso ended. In 1971 he raced Henri Pescarolo
with a chassis he had purchased from March Engineering
. 1972 saw the first F1 car built by the Williams works, the Politoys FX3 designed by Len Bailey
, but Pescarolo crashed and destroyed it at its first race.
Williams, short on cash (he conducted team business from a telephone box at one point after being disconnected for unpaid bills), looked to Marlboro and Iso Rivolta
, an Italian
car company, for sponsorship. Though they pledged their support, they did not come through in time and in 1976 Williams desperately took on a partner in oil magnate Walter Wolf
. Though the team continued functioning, it no longer belonged to Frank Williams and he left in 1977 along with one of his old employees, engineer Patrick Head
. The two acquired an empty carpet warehouse in Didcot
, Oxfordshire
, United Kingdom
and announced the formation of Williams Grand Prix Engineering. This same team and partnership still competes in Formula One
and is known as WilliamsF1
. They are currently based just outside the South Oxfordshire village of Grove, near Wantage.
The team's first win came in when Clay Regazzoni
drove the Cosworth
powered Williams FW07
to victory at the British Grand Prix
at Silverstone
. Their first Drivers' and Constructors' championships both came in with Australian Alan Jones
winning the drivers' championship and the team winning the constructors title by 54 points. Between 1981 and 1997, the team won six more drivers' championships and eight more constructors' championships.
rental car from the Paul Ricard Circuit to the Nice
airport, Williams, who wasn't wearing his seat belt
, lost control of the car which then rolled over causing him to crash onto the roof and resulting in a spinal fracture. Williams's passenger Peter Windsor
sustained only minor injuries. Since the accident, Williams has used a wheelchair
.
. He was knight
ed in 1999. He is also one of the few non-Frenchmen to have been made a Chevalier of France
's Legion d'honneur
, this honour accorded for his work with Renault
engines. In 2008 Williams was awarded the Wheatcroft trophy
.
On 19 December 2010, he was awarded the Helen Rollason Award for "outstanding achievement in the face of adversity" at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Awards.
in a Williams
at Imola
, he was charged with manslaughter in accordance with Italian law, but was cleared after several years. Since Senna's death, all his F1 cars have carried a little tribute to Ayrton featuring the Senna 'S' logo. The 2011 Williams FW33 has this on the front wing supports.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 16 April 1942) is founder and manager of the WilliamsF1
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
racing team.
Early life
Born in South ShieldsSouth Shields
South Shields is a coastal town in Tyne and Wear, England, located at the mouth of the River Tyne to Tyne Dock, and about downstream from Newcastle upon Tyne...
, Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, son of a serving RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
officer and a special education
Special education
Special education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
teacher (and later headmistress), Williams was largely brought up by his maternal aunt and uncle in Jarrow
Jarrow
Jarrow is a town in Tyne and Wear, England, located on the River Tyne, with a population of 27,526. From the middle of the 19th century until 1935, Jarrow was a centre for shipbuilding, and was the starting point of the Jarrow March against unemployment in 1936.-Foundation:The Angles re-occupied...
when his parents' marriage broke down. He subsequently spent much of his later childhood at a private, fee-paying boarding school, St. Joseph's College, Dumfries, in Scotland. In the late 1950s a friend gave Williams a ride in his Jaguar
Jaguar (car)
Jaguar Cars Ltd, known simply as Jaguar , is a British luxury car manufacturer, headquartered in Whitley, Coventry, England. It is part of the Jaguar Land Rover business, a subsidiary of the Indian company Tata Motors....
XK150
Jaguar XK150
The Jaguar XK150 is a sports car produced by Jaguar between 1957 and 1961. It replaced the XK140.Initially it was available in Fixed Head Coupé and Drop Head Coupé versions. The Open Two Seater roadster was not launched until 1958...
and young Frank was immediately hooked.
Professional career
After a brief career as a driver and mechanic, funded by his work as a travelling grocery salesman, Williams founded Frank Williams Racing CarsFrank Williams Racing Cars
Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and constructor.-Early years:Frank Williams had been a motor-racing enthusiast since a young age, and after a career in saloon cars and Formula Three, backed by Williams' shrewd instincts as a dealer in racing cars and spares, he realised...
in 1966. He ran drivers including Piers Courage
Piers Courage
Piers Raymond Courage was a racing driver from England. He participated in 29 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 2 January 1967. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 20 championship points.- Biography :Piers Courage was the eldest son and heir of the Courage brewing...
and Tony Trimmer
Tony Trimmer
Tony Trimmer is a British former racing driver from England, who won the Shell British Formula Three Championship and E.R. Hall Trophy in 1970....
for several years in Formula Two
Formula Two
Formula Two, abbreviated to F2, is a type of open wheel formula racing. It was replaced by Formula 3000 in 1985, but the FIA announced in 2008 that Formula Two would return for 2009 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship...
and Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
. Williams purchased a Brabham Formula One chassis, which Courage drove throughout the 1969 Formula One season
1969 Formula One season
The 1969 Formula One season included the 20th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on March 1, 1969, and ended on October 19 after eleven races.-Season summary:...
, twice finishing in second place.
In 1970 Williams undertook a brief partnership with Alessandro de Tomaso. After the death of Courage at the Dutch Grand Prix
Dutch Grand Prix
The Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One automobile race held at Circuit Zandvoort, from 1948 to 1985. It was a part of the World Championship from 1952, and designated the European Grand Prix two times, 1962 and 1976, when this title was an honorary designation given each year to one grand prix...
that year, Williams's relationship with de Tomaso ended. In 1971 he raced Henri Pescarolo
Henri Pescarolo
Henri Pescarolo is a former racing driver from France. He participated in 64 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 22 September 1968. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 12 championship points...
with a chassis he had purchased from March Engineering
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
. 1972 saw the first F1 car built by the Williams works, the Politoys FX3 designed by Len Bailey
Len Bailey
Leonard Bailey was a British automobile designer.- Career :Leonard Bailey became an apprentice at Austin at Longbridge in 1942 which at that time were building Short Stirlings for the Royal Air Force of World War II....
, but Pescarolo crashed and destroyed it at its first race.
Williams, short on cash (he conducted team business from a telephone box at one point after being disconnected for unpaid bills), looked to Marlboro and Iso Rivolta
Iso Rivolta
Iso Rivolta was an automobile and motorbike manufacturer in Italy, predominantly active from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. They are known for the iconic Isetta 'bubble car' of the 1950s, and for a number of powerful performance cars in the 60s and early 70s.-History:Iso Rivolta was...
, an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
car company, for sponsorship. Though they pledged their support, they did not come through in time and in 1976 Williams desperately took on a partner in oil magnate Walter Wolf
Walter Wolf (industrialist)
Walter Wolf is a Canadian oil-drilling equipment supplier who in the early 1970s made a fortune from the North Sea oil business and decided to join the world of Formula One motor racing....
. Though the team continued functioning, it no longer belonged to Frank Williams and he left in 1977 along with one of his old employees, engineer Patrick Head
Patrick Head
Patrick Head , is co-founder and Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team.For 25 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, and responsible for many innovations within Formula One. Head oversaw the design and construction of Williams cars until May 2004...
. The two acquired an empty carpet warehouse in Didcot
Didcot
Didcot is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire about south of Oxford. Until 1974 it was in Berkshire, but was transferred to Oxfordshire in that year, and from Wallingford Rural District to the district of South Oxfordshire...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and announced the formation of Williams Grand Prix Engineering. This same team and partnership still competes in Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
and is known as WilliamsF1
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
. They are currently based just outside the South Oxfordshire village of Grove, near Wantage.
The team's first win came in when Clay Regazzoni
Clay Regazzoni
Gianclaudio Giuseppe "Clay" Regazzoni was a Swiss racing car driver. He competed in Formula One races from 1970 to 1980, winning five Grands Prix. His first win was the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in his debut season, driving for Ferrari. He remained with the Italian team until...
drove the Cosworth
Cosworth DFV
The DFV is an internal combustion engine that was originally produced by Cosworth for Formula One motor racing. Named Four Valve because of the four valves per cylinder, and Double as it was a V8 development of the earlier, four-cylinder FVA , making it a Double Four Valve engine...
powered Williams FW07
Williams FW07
The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head for the 1979 F1 season. It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at Imperial College London. Some observers, among them Lotus aerodynamicist Peter Wright felt the FW07 was...
to victory at the British Grand Prix
1979 British Grand Prix
The 1979 British Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 14 July 1979 at Silverstone. It marked the Williams team's first GP pole position and win .- Classification :- Notes :...
at Silverstone
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
. Their first Drivers' and Constructors' championships both came in with Australian Alan Jones
Alan Jones (Formula 1)
Alan Stanley Jones MBE is an Australian former Formula One driver. He was the first driver to win a Formula One World Championship with the Williams team, becoming the 1980 World Drivers' Champion....
winning the drivers' championship and the team winning the constructors title by 54 points. Between 1981 and 1997, the team won six more drivers' championships and eight more constructors' championships.
Spinal cord injury
A car accident in March 1986 in France resulted in Williams sustaining a spinal cord injury and becoming a tetraplegic. While driving a Ford SierraFord Sierra
The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
rental car from the Paul Ricard Circuit to the Nice
Nice
Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...
airport, Williams, who wasn't wearing his seat belt
Seat belt
A seat belt or seatbelt, sometimes called a safety belt, is a safety harness designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop...
, lost control of the car which then rolled over causing him to crash onto the roof and resulting in a spinal fracture. Williams's passenger Peter Windsor
Peter Windsor
Peter David Windsor is the former Sporting Director of the US F1 Team and a Formula One journalist reporter. He was brought up in Australia, but now has residences in London and Sydney....
sustained only minor injuries. Since the accident, Williams has used a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
.
Honours
In 1987 the Queen awarded Williams the title of CBEOrder of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
. He was knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
ed in 1999. He is also one of the few non-Frenchmen to have been made a Chevalier of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
's Legion d'honneur
Légion d'honneur
The Legion of Honour, or in full the National Order of the Legion of Honour is a French order established by Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the Consulat which succeeded to the First Republic, on 19 May 1802...
, this honour accorded for his work with Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
engines. In 2008 Williams was awarded the Wheatcroft trophy
Wheatcroft trophy
The Wheatcroft Trophy has been awarded annually since 2002 in recognition of a person who has made significant contributions to the motorsport world and industry...
.
On 19 December 2010, he was awarded the Helen Rollason Award for "outstanding achievement in the face of adversity" at the BBC Sports Personality of The Year Awards.
Death of Ayrton Senna
In May 1994, following the death of Ayrton SennaDeath of Ayrton Senna
The death of three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994, occurred as a result of his car crashing into a concrete barrier while he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. The previous day, Roland Ratzenberger had been killed...
in a Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
at Imola
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is an auto racing circuit near the Italian town of Imola, east of Bologna and east of the Ferrari factory in Maranello....
, he was charged with manslaughter in accordance with Italian law, but was cleared after several years. Since Senna's death, all his F1 cars have carried a little tribute to Ayrton featuring the Senna 'S' logo. The 2011 Williams FW33 has this on the front wing supports.