williams / scale 1/43 | thebiggarage

Williams, is a British Formula One team and constructor which was founded by Sir Frank Williams (1942–2021).

Frank Williams founded Williams in 1977 after his previous team, Frank Williams Racing Cars, failed to achieve the success he desired. Despite the promise of a new owner, Canadian millionaire Walter Wolf, and the team's rebranding as Wolf–Williams Racing in 1976, the cars still were not competitive. Eventually, Williams left the rechristened Walter Wolf Racing and moved to Didcot to rebuild his team as Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Frank recruited Patrick Head to work for the team, creating the Williams–Head partnership.

Headquarters Birmingham, England

fw11

The Williams FW11 was a Formula One car designed by Frank Dernie as a serious challenger to McLaren and their MP4/2C car. The car took over from where the FW10 left off at the end of 1985, when that car won the last three races of the season.

The FW11's most notable feature was the Honda 1.5 litre V6 turbo engine, one of the most powerful in F1 at the time producing 800 bhp at 12,.000rpm and well over 1200 bhp at 12.000 rpm in qualifying.

Added to the engine's power were the aerodynamics, which were ahead of the MP4/2C and the Lotus 98T. That and its driving pairing of Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell made it a force to be reckoned with.

In 1986, the car won first time out in Brazil with Piquet.

The FW11 was updated slightly for 1987 to become the FW11B, and the team made no mistakes in wrapping up both championships.

The FW11 was not a technical showcase by any means, but solid engineering, exceptional aerodynamics, the engine's outright power and superior fuel economy (even better than the TAG-Porsche engines used by McLaren), and Piquet and Mansell helped the car take 18 wins, 16 pole positions and 278 points over two seasons of racing.

An interim car that was tested before the FW11's successor FW12 was finished, the FW11C was used for the Judd V8 engine powering the FW12 in 1988. It was only built for testing purposes and it never raced.

1986

nigel mansell

fw11 honda ra166e 4 bar limited 1.5l V6 turbocharged 1000 hp

spa francorchamps

Williams FW11 1986 (youtube.com)

fw45

The Williams FW45 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Williams to compete in the 2023 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Logan Sargeant and Alexander Albon in their first and second years with the team respectively.

The FW45 is powered by a Mercedes-AMG M14 E Performance 1.6 L direct injection V6 turbocharged engine limited to 15.000 RPM in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout.

It uses a Mercedes-AMG 8 forward + 1 reverse gearbox with seamless sequential semi-automatic shift plus reverse gear, gear selection electro-hydraulically actuated.

Williams finished 2023, 7th in the constructors' championship with 28 points, 3 places higher than in 2022. Albon finished 13th in the drivers' championship with 27 points whilst Sargeant finished 21st in the drivers' championship with 1 point.