The Williams team were bought five years ago for $150m from the family of founder Frank Williams. The new owners are a US investment company by the name of Dorilton Capital. The iconic Formula One team name is experiencing a resurgence in popularity and the F1 official series online community, ‘Fan Voice’, regularly ranks them number one or two for trustworthiness, independence, honesty, bravery – all a valuable commodity when looking for sponsors.
Despite suffering a lean couple of decades, Williams (9) are second behind Ferrari (16) in terms of constructor championships won, with McLaren (8) one place further back. New kids Mercedes are joint third with the papaya liveried team and despite their eras of dominance, Red Bull have yet to break into the top three.
Williams rank as one of most popular teams
“Williams is one of the most popular teams in the sport as a function of having been in the sport for over 45 years,” James Bower, commercial director of Williams Racing, tells BlackBook Motorsport. “And also, Williams has a very distinct brand equity. When people think about Williams, they think about things that are slightly different to other teams.
During the recent Monaco Grand Prix weekend, on UK television one of the most played advertisements was of the Duracel branded cartoon racer. Bower continues, “So a lot of it is looking at brand fit and brands that would align with us. From that, we secured Duracell, the most trusted brand in its space.”
The race in the principality saw Williams claim their first points of the year and while two points from eight races may appear a meagre return, the Grove based team scored just eight points across 69 races between 2018-2021. Now under the leadership of James Vowels, Williams are threatening to score points at each race weekend whatever the circuit configuration.
As new F1 fans become aware of the history of the sport, Williams are huge part of that story. With 45 years of history they are second only in longevity to Ferrari. Drivers such as Alan Jones (first Australian to win an F1 title), Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Jenson Button, Juan Pablo Montoya, Alain Prost, Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna, Riccardo Patrese, Valtteri Bottas, Felipe Massa and Jacques Villeneuve all are part of the roster of drivers that have driven for the British racing marque.
45 years of F1 history
Iconic F1 car designer Adrian Newey, who has been topping the news headlines recently, had his first success in terms of titles with the Williams team having been fired from Leyton House after his three inaugural years in the sport with them. His first Williams car design in 1991 was the FW14 and by mid-season this chassis was every bit the match of the all conquering McLaren.
Reliability issues cost Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell in particular from claiming that year’s drivers title, but these were overcome and the following season Mansell took the drivers’ crown and Newey secured his first constructors’ title. One year on and Newey had doubles his championship tally as Alain Prost cruised to victory at the wheel of the FW15C.
Perceived as a back of the grid outfit strapped for cash, behind the scenes Williams are turning this false image around. The team are seeing an uptick in fortunes but its taken time to arrive where they are on the brink of haunch a driver in final qualifying each weekend. Not only were Williams behind their competitors on track, but their commercial development was F1 third world by comparison.
The team’s last major partnership with Martini between 2014 and 2017 was easily recognisable and visibly striking, but far from financially lucrative. “We have a larger commercial team across three locations: an office in central London, [an office in] our Grove headquarters, and an office in New York,” says Bower their commercial director. “The scale of the team has grown and that’s helping us develop commercial partnership opportunities.”
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The success of the New York office has outperformed any expectations prior to its inception. While there is a longing for a ‘proper’ American F1 team, Williams with its American owners and driver Logan Sargeant have been ticking the boxes for US brands such as Gulf Oil, Stephens, Michelob Ultra, PureStream, MyProtein, and Keeper Security all singing commercial deals since the beginning of the 2023 season.
The early scheduling of the Miami Grand Prix, whilst not the most carbon zero friendly of slots on the calendar, has helped Williams drive momentum with their US sponsors. “Having the two races in the US later in the year, but having Miami at the beginning of May [helps us],” Bower reveals. “Bringing on new partners during the season is rarer than when you typically see them at the start, so it’s a positive for us.”
Partner’s have been flocking to Formula One since the acquisition of the commercial rights to the sport by Liberty Media and gone are the days of spartan liveries for those towards the back of the grid. Bower reveals in fact commercial saturation point is being reached and their strategy for partners is now about quality and a long term relationship. This of course brings in more money for the team.
Unlike marketeer Zak Brown, who is cramming a sponsor onto every inch of the McLaren cars, Williams have a different business model. “I joined the team in 2021, and when I joined there were actually quite a lot of partners,” Bower explains. “We’ve created a new partner community, but it isn’t about selling scarcity; it’s about saying that the number of partners we will have over a five-year plan will be between this number and this number.”
Williams are spending up to cost cap
As the lengthy Blackbook interview concludes, Bower reveals the SHOCK fact that the Williams team now has more money to spend on racing than the cost cap actually allows. “We have investment in terms of spending up to the cost cap, and we have a secure future,” Bower says. “But I also have the management of partnerships as well, so we’re not making commitments that we can’t fulfil.
Alpine by way of contrast are tens of millions short of spending up to the cost cap, according to the sacked manager Otmar Szhnafaeur at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix. And Williams have secured an agreement from the FIA to spend more than the capital allowance restrictions for the next few years, as they catch up and replace and ageing facility and equipment at their Grove HQ.
Following their acquisition of Audi, Sauber is not receiving this kind of investment in its Hinwii base as the focus of the German brand for now appears to be on building the all new 2026 power unit.
Haas F1 is an F1 kit car company, outsourcing its chassis design to Italian company Delara and much of the rest of the car is secured from Ferrari under the agreed ‘listed parts’ allowance specified by the FIA.
With their 113 Grand Prix victories, 313 podiums, 128 pole positions and 133 fastest laps, the iconic British F1 team Williams is slowly, but surely, making a comeback.
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With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
I think you’ll find that Jack Brabham (later Sir Jack) was the first Australian to win the F1 title – in 1959, a long time before Alan Jones. Jack won a second World Championship in 1960. He took a third win in 1966, in a car bearing his own name, the only F1 driver to achieve this.