Frank Williams Racing Cars facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Frank Williams Racing Cars

Full name	Frank Williams Racing Cars
Founder(s)	Frank Williams
Noted drivers	Piers Courage Jacques Laffite Carlos Pace Jacky Ickx Ronnie Peterson
Next name	Walter Wolf Racing
Formula One World Championship career
First entry	1969 Spanish Grand Prix
Races entered	105 (96 starts)
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Race victories	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1
Final entry	1976 Japanese Grand Prix

Frank Williams Racing Cars was a British Formula One team and car builder. It was started by Frank Williams in 1969. The team competed in Formula One races until 1976.

Starting the Team

Piers Courage racing for Williams in 1969.

Frank Williams loved motor racing from a young age. He used to race saloon cars and Formula Three cars. Frank was also good at buying and selling racing cars and parts. He soon realized he was better at managing a team than driving.

In 1969, Frank bought a Brabham Formula One car. His good friend, Piers Courage, was the driver. Piers had a great year, finishing second in two big races. These were the Monaco and US Grands Prix.

Working with De Tomaso

The team's success caught the eye of De Tomaso, an Italian car maker. De Tomaso built a new Formula One car for the 1970 season. Sadly, the car was not very good at first. It failed to finish the first four races.

At the Dutch Grand Prix, Piers Courage had a terrible accident. His car crashed and caught fire, and he died. This event deeply affected Frank Williams. After this, he often kept a distance from his drivers. The team continued with other drivers, but they had no good results. The partnership with De Tomaso ended.

Tough Times and New Cars

In 1971, Frank Williams bought an older March car. French driver Henri Pescarolo raced for the team. Later, they got a newer March car. But getting good results was still very hard.

Frank Williams was running out of money. He was living race to race, just trying to keep the team going. Pescarolo did manage to finish fourth and sixth in two races. These results helped the team survive.

Frank Williams Racing Cars (1969–1975)

New Sponsors and the Politoys FX3

In 1972, a French oil company called Motul joined as a sponsor. This helped Williams buy a new March car for Pescarolo. An Italian toy company, Politoys, also gave money. This money allowed Williams to build his own car. It was called the Politoys FX3.

The Politoys FX3 was a normal car for its time. It had a Cosworth engine. It raced for the first time at the British Grand Prix. But the steering broke, and the car was badly damaged. The team had to rebuild it.

Iso–Marlboro and the FX3B

By the end of 1972, Motul and Politoys stopped their support. Frank Williams found new sponsors for 1973. These were Marlboro cigarettes and Iso Autoveicoli S.p.A., an Italian car maker. The Politoys FX3 was updated and renamed the Iso–Marlboro FX3B.

Two new drivers joined the team. They were Howden Ganley from New Zealand and Nanni Galli from Italy. The FX3B was soon replaced by a newer car. This was because new rules made older cars unsafe.

The Iso–Marlboro IR and Williams FW Cars

The new car, the Iso–Marlboro IR, was introduced in 1973. Many different drivers raced this car. Ganley was the main driver and scored one point for the team. Another driver, Gijs van Lennep, also scored a point at his home race.

Before the 1974 season, Iso Rivolta and Marlboro left the team. Frank Williams faced money problems again. The team kept the two IR cars and renamed them FW, after Frank Williams. At first, only one car raced. Arturo Merzario was the main driver. He scored a point early in the season.

Later, Jacques Laffite joined the team. The team's performance slowly got better. Merzario finished fourth in Italy, which was a great result. This earned the team four points for the year. The FW cars were later renamed Williams FW01, FW02, and FW03 for 1975.

Frank Williams decided the team needed a brand new car. The Williams FW04 was the first car to carry the Williams name. It debuted in 1975. The team's money problems were very serious by this time. Many different drivers raced for the team, often bringing their own money.

Around this time, Frank Williams hired a young engineer named Patrick Head. Patrick would later become Frank's partner. A big moment happened at the German Grand Prix. Despite all the problems, Jacques Laffite drove the FW04 to second place! This amazing result brought much-needed money to the team. It was the team's only points finish that year.

Wolf–Williams Racing (1976)

Before the 1976 season, a rich Canadian businessman, Walter Wolf, bought most of Frank Williams Racing Cars. The team was renamed Wolf–Williams Racing. Frank Williams stayed on as the team manager.

Walter Wolf also bought cars and equipment from another team, Hesketh. The team used these cars, renaming them Wolf–Williams FW05. The old Williams FW04 was also used in one race.

At the end of 1976, Walter Wolf decided to change things. He removed Frank Williams from his manager job. Frank Williams was upset and left the team. He then started a brand new team with Patrick Head in 1977. This new team was called Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Walter Wolf then owned the team completely, and it became Walter Wolf Racing.

Formula One Race Results

Here are some of the results from Frank Williams Racing Cars in the Formula One World Championship.

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	WCC	Points
1969	Brabham BT26A	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D		RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX						N/A	N/A
				Piers Courage		Ret	2	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	5	Ret	2	10
	Brabham BT30	Ford Cosworth FVA 1.6 L4		Richard Attwood							6
1970	De Tomaso 505	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	D		RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA	MEX				N/A	N/A
				Piers Courage	Ret	DNS	NC	Ret	Ret
				Brian Redman							DNS	DNQ
				Tim Schenken									Ret	Ret	NC	Ret
1971	March 701 March 711	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G		RSA	ESP	MON	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA						N/A	N/A
				Henri Pescarolo	11	Ret	8	NC	Ret	4	Ret	6	Ret	DNS	Ret
				Max Jean					NC
1972	March 711 March 721	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G		ARG	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA					N/A	N/A
				Carlos Pace		17	6	17	5	Ret	Ret	NC	NC	Ret	9	Ret
				Henri Pescarolo	8	11	11	Ret	NC	DNS		Ret	DNS	DNQ	13	14
	Politoys FX3										Ret										NC	0
1973	Iso–Marlboro FX3B Iso–Marlboro IR	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	NED	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA		10th	2
				Howden Ganley	NC	7	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	14	9	9	DNS	NC	NC	6	12
				Nanni Galli	Ret	9		11	Ret	Ret
				Jackie Pretorius			Ret
				Tom Belsø							DNS
				Henri Pescarolo								Ret			10
				Graham McRae									Ret
				Gijs van Lennep										6		9	Ret
				Tim Schenken														14
				Jacky Ickx															7
1974	Iso–Marlboro FW	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	F		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	CAN	USA		10th	4
				Arturo Merzario	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	Ret	Ret
				Richard Robarts							DNS
				Tom Belsø			Ret	DNQ			8			DNQ
				Gijs van Lennep					14			DNQ
				Jean-Pierre Jabouille									DNQ
				Jacques Laffite											Ret	NC	Ret	15	Ret
1975	Williams FW Williams FW04	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G		ARG	BRA	RSA	ESP	MON	BEL	SWE	NED	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	ITA	USA			9th	6
				Arturo Merzario	NC	Ret	Ret	Ret	DNQ	Ret
				Damien Magee							14
				François Migault									DNS
				Ian Ashley											DNS
				Jo Vonlanthen												Ret
				Renzo Zorzi													14
				Lella Lombardi														DNS
				Jacques Laffite	Ret	11	NC		DNQ	Ret		Ret	11	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	DNS
				Tony Brise				7
				Ian Scheckter							Ret	12
1976	Wolf–Williams FW04 Wolf–Williams FW05	Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8	G		BRA	RSA	USW	ESP	BEL	MON	SWE	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	CAN	USA	JPN	NC	0
				Jacky Ickx	8	16	DNQ	7	DNQ	DNQ		10	DNQ
				Arturo Merzario										Ret	Ret	Ret	DNS	Ret	Ret	Ret
				Renzo Zorzi	9
				Michel Leclère		13	DNQ	10	11	11	Ret	13
				Chris Amon														DNS
				Warwick Brown															14
				Hans Binder																Ret
				Masami Kuwashima																DNS
	Williams FW04			Emilio Zapico				DNQ													NC	0

See also

In Spanish: Frank Williams Racing Cars para niños