The F1 Change That Resulted In the Downfall Of Williams

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Thanks for watching! Please hit the like and subscribe button!

[@marcel1463]

Very well made documentry.

[@tbrowniscool]

@@marcel1463 I agree but they made out like when 2000 hit William's went full retard.... They didn't

[@nemke1990]

The biggest mistake Williams ever made was Frank and Patrick forcing Newey out

[@bram5825]

They did what?!

[@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1]

They didn’t force him out they just didn’t give him what he wanted in terms of driver hiring decisions etc etc

[@nemke1990]

​@@RANDOMZBOSSMAN1 Newey wanted to become a shareholder, among other things, which he was denied. Williams admitted this was a huge mistake

[@bombfog1]

Contractually he was supposed to have a say in major decisions, like drivers, but in multiple instances big changes were decided without his knowledge or consent. So it was Williams management breaking their contract with Newey. It had nothing to do with Newey being a Prima Donna or being at all unreasonable.

[@jtr5336]

@@nemke1990urthermore, they virtually sacked Damon Hill in 1995 / early 1996 and signed up HHF to pair Villeneuve for 1997. That alone was a contributing factor as into why Newey left for McLaren in 1998. I honestly think Hill could’ve had a chance to do back to back titles had they not forced him out due to a poor 1995 season.

[@GarfieldRex]

Last competitive year: 2015 Last race victory: 2012 Last championship opportunity: 2003 Last championship: 1997

[@helenballinger15]

It is a shame that Willians are really struggling. Alex, though is doing the best he can with the car he has. He seems at home at Williams despite their struggles

[@andrewcurtis4568]

They screwed Mansell, so screw them.

[@frankdobs]

@@glegger4561 How you can say this after watching his season so far is insane.

[@ajorbista]

They’re now a strong midfield contender considering their earlier struggles in the season.

[@largol33t12]

Um, you do realize it's just a team in name only? The Williams TEAM is dead. The current one is just licensing out the brand name for marketing purposes.

[@hugolouessard3914]

THE big mistake that Williams made and that could have changed a lot in the most important period of their history, is Franck Williams and Patrick Head refusing to make Adrian Newey their equal with a say in important decisions and a stake in the team. As soon as he left (1997), it was hard for Williams which went from world champion to front of the midfield the following year. With Newey fully invested in Williams, and thus probably better results, they could have developped way better in the early 2000s and stay on top. But no, Williams and Head decided to step Newey aside when talking about the key decisions, while they had promised Newey that he'd be involved in the important decisions. Of course, Newey isn't a miracle worker and he can't make a team win by himself, but from 2000 to 2004 especially, Williams just needed a better chassis and aero, as BMW was the best engine, and Newey could have been the difference between 2nd or 3rd in the championship, and world champion. As for the rest, hard to say what they should have done, but if the BMW partnership had given titles, BMW could have stayed, invested in the team and so on... And they'd maybe still be a top team.

[@eSstonY99]

Pretty good analysis mate!!!

[@ItzAnonyms]

Didn't BMW leave Williams because Frank refused to sell the team to them? BMW then bought/became the main investor of Sauber instead That's what I recall though

[@legoferrari14]

@@ItzAnonyms That is true; ever since Frank was screwed over by Walter Wolf and lost the first iteration of the Williams F1 team, Frank became very stubborn over protecting his control over the team's future and so refused to let anyone challenge him & Patrick Head for decision-making roles. That not only cost Williams Newey but also BMW. And once BMW left the team, WIlliams really started to enter its tailspin. The first few years of the V6 Turbo Hybrid era flattered Williams given that the Merc engine was easily the best of the four available, but once aerodynamics became more advanced and the other engines caught up WIlliams' shortcomings were revealed.

[@tompw3141]

Renault quitting didn't help. Left Williams without a new engine in 1998, at a time when every year's engines were better than the last.

[@andrew-rn9ui]

Wait so Williams is shit because they lost newey to Red Bull the best team in the world right now ?

[@tomhutchins7495]

I've been watching since 2008 and it's hard to believe they ever even more than a perennial midfielder. It's becoming hard to remember that about Mclaren too.

[@jtr5336]

Funny that McLaren were arguably more competitive under Adrian Newey (1998-2005) than without afterwards… 2008 was the only title they’ve won post Newey. I wonder what will happen to Red Bull the moment Newey leaves / retires.

[@tomhutchins7495]

@@jtr5336 I might have misunderstood, but I seem to recall that he was stepping away from so muvh involvement in F1 after 2013, because he wanted to spend more time designing yachts and stuff. I got the impression he got pulled back in pretty quickly, certainly by the time the 2017 regs came along. I know the 2014 issues weren't all aero, with the Renault PU underperforming compared to the Mercedes, and it was more a case of Mercedes being ultra-dominant rather than RB being that terrible, but it would suggest he's highly beneficial at the very least.

[@nextgenpsychos1016]

​@@jtr5336 hopefully Williams state or even worse so Max retires with 3 titles

[@Horneycorn]

@@nextgenpsychos1016 Never gonna happen.

[@procatprocat9647]

I've been watching since around 1985. Williams was the power house of F1. You missed the two most incredible F1 cars ever designed - both from the two teams you mentioned.

[@y_fam_goeglyd]

Williams became successful because Frank & Patrick were/are stubborn buggers. Williams started its downhill slide because Frank & Patrick were/are stubborn buggers. (Btw, Red Bull uses a wind tunnel built in the 1960s. "Modern" technology isn't always the answer.)

[@ODiEdiTzZ]

While RedBull’s tunnel was built in the 60’s, all of the systems inside it have been upgraded and replaced many many times. The only thing from the 60’s is basically the building itself

[@marco_1909]

The fact they are competitive with outdated systems is an incredible acheivement. Vowles can bring them higher up if the fully back him and give him full autonomy. Also His pitwall insights is a breath of fresh air compared to the likes szafnauer,horners etc

[@BobbyGeneric145]

What digital systems are they referring to? I remember mclaren saying before their IT partner streamlined everything, the team was ran on an excel spreadsheet with 80,000 lines. Yes, EIGHTY THOUSAND.

[@bogdanrus9402]

1997 was brutal for Williams. They lost the Renault engines and the greatest car designer of all time.

[@The_Curious_Cat]

What started the Williams downfall was not only the amount of revenue being reduced, but also letting Newey leave and losing Renault engines. All at the same time (1997). Ever since they never recovered, they had some good years, but have been falling down the grid. Also about the active suspension car (1992), if I'm not mistaken, it didn't work by the driver pressing a button to lift or lower the car. It was much more advanced then that. The car basically had a "map" of the track and would maintain the ride height of it during the whole lap, which improved the diffuser efficiency and overall aerodynamics a lot. While others would lose aerodynamic efficiency because the car would bounce or lift the rear when braking, the Williams was a steady platform and that's why it was dominant.

[@procatprocat9647]

It worked on estimated time to arrive at a certain point in the circuit, reset at the start line. The obvious fault occurs when a car slows from racing pace. I imagine there was an override/manual control as described in the video but I don't know for sure.

[@LeeePowers]

Active suspension also kept the car in a constant pitch,and from what I've read,it developed huge amounts of downforce as a result. Something I think of when I noticed the rake on modern cars becoming more extreme.

[@largol33t12]

The Renault issue is NOT the team's fault. Renault made it clear they were leaving F1 to pursue other sports regardless of what the teams wanted. They were also supplying Benetton so both teams lost Renault engines the following season.

[@The_Curious_Cat]

@@largol33t12 There's nothing on my comment that says that it was Williams fault. I just said that all those events came at the same time and it was too much for Williams to take with their current business model.

[@jamestrimbee8278]

They didn't lose Renault, F1 did. They left.

[@therenunciate]

Last great Williams driver lineup was - correct me if I’m wrong - Massa/Bottas in 2014

[@Roguescienceguy]

And that was a Massa after the accident coupled to a qualifyingmerchant

[@therenunciate]

@@Roguescienceguy Hm, yeah, had a few more big crashes that year too

[@Wizzkidwas]

Still Williams' last pole, Massa in Austria that year

[@FrancisFjordCupola]

Which is more or less a collection of 2nd drivers.

[@therenunciate]

@@FrancisFjordCupola I've only really watched 2007 and 2014 Massa. He was so fast in 07-08

[@Axle0Bullitt019]

A friend of mine was actually questioning why Williams is even bothering showing up to race. Even went as far as suggesting them being dropped from the grid. He started watching in 2019.

[@d.k.n4803]

that's a mean comment lol...

[@Axle0Bullitt019]

@@d.k.n4803 I did link him a few videos to educate him in what their glory really was like. Namely the FW14B if nothing else.

[@justinburley8659]

@@d.k.n4803 That's fair of him. They've been at the back for over half a decade now. This is no longer the Williams of old

[@quercus5398]

Money! Every one gets the same from profits,the champion gets a trophy,it’s a co- op,think how much F1 makes per season, it wasn’t like this always,Fia try’s to keep every team alive,new teams are rare,the budgets are immense!

[@grahamreece519]

It's a crazy sentiment to a long-time F1 fan, but it is absolutely the fresh perspective that an investor or sponsor would have looking into the situation, and that's a BIG problem for Williams.

[@natelecarde962]

Ferrari fans have no idea how bad Williams have it…

[@lancealvarez1009]

Ferrari fans are lucky compared to mclaren and williams fans. Both Mclaren and williams havent been consistent race winners in past 10 yrs and even more for williams

[@mrwhatever9025]

Why did any of the teams sign a concord agreement that made them lose 60% of their income?

[@danked6731]

They should of given Newey a piece of the company

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Would have been a sensible call!

[@sheldoniusRex]

Should *have,* not "should of."

[@damionlee7658]

​@@sheldoniusRex I fear this is a losing battle. People have been using "Should of" for over two centuries. At this stage, no amount of grammar policing in KZbin comments is going to stem the tide. Personally, I am holding out hope that we can stop "Pacifically" becoming a recognised synonym for "Specifically". Although I fear that battle may also be lost.

[@l-_-lShadowCat]

@@damionlee7658Maybe it’s not a lost battle. “of” is not a verb, so it has no business being after a modal verb. The problem is that people tend to write phonetically. (The problem is that people tend to right phonetically). A little elementary grammar properly taught in school should fix this. Well, we can hope…

[@damionlee7658]

@@l-_-lShadowCat except that for the same two centuries that we have seen people writing "Should of", English language has been taught in schools where English is a primary language. You are absolutely correct that this is an issue of phonetic writing. I would wager that the vast majority that make the "Should of" error, however, also speak English as a first language. I would suggest that they also attended a school that taught them that "Should've" was a contraction of the words "Should" and "Have" (also teaching many other common contractions). Often, this issue (this is only personal opinion, I certainly have no data to verify this) appears to stem from education engagement, as opposed to access to, or quality of, education received. I can think of several adults, I personally know, who attended the same school I did; and were in the same lesson I was when they were not only taught about contractions, but also about common spelling mistakes caused by the sound of ['ve] often being close to "Of". Yet they write "Should of", and simply cannot remember that lesson. (Granted, for us, it was several decades in the past.) What we really need is better engagement with education. Personally I think we need to consider the example set by Sweden and Finland, of having the compulsory school age being seven years (several other countries also have this as their compulsory school age). Corralling children into formal education at increasingly younger ages seems to produce negative results.

[@simonkevnorris]

You should have included Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg in the list of great drivers for Williams.

[@akbolly6415]

Daydreaming time: just wonder what Adrian Newey can do with Williams current infrastructure and must be interesting to see what he would achieve out of that😂

[@Chyeahokay]

Lol considering James vowels said they are 20 years behind everyone, would be interesting.

[@MrSniperfox29]

Funny you didn't mention Kubica with the pay drivers because, let's be fair, he was a pay driver being bankrolled by Orlon.

[@spevomax2]

I'd say that 1995 was the most embarrassing season for Williams. Both drivers and the team fails in every possible way and yet they had the most dominant car.

[@RubyFergusonBlacksmith]

Founded in 1997 @0.41 I think you meant 1977

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Indeed.. whoops!

[@Tamanstormwind]

Just because a driver is immensely talented and absolutely worthy of the race seat they have doesn't make them not also a "pay driver". Among the many personal sponsors Senna, for example, brought with him to every team he drove for was a literal bank. Sergio Perez was able to hold Force India in stewardship for like a quarter of a season while new ownership was found using his Carlos Slim sponsorship money. Schumacher had half the German economy behind him.

[@sharvilraut5869]

What an insightful and comprehensive video! Perfect for seasoned F1 fans and newcomers.

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Thanks for watching!

[@MarkHewitt1978]

I think the question isn't why are Williams so bad but rather that it is remarkable that Williams is still around as an indepednent team when so many others have fallen away over the years. If you discount Ferrari as a manufacturer team it is really only Williams and McLaren that survive in their original form.

[@jtr5336]

Stubbornness and complacency cost them their competitiveness on the grid. Adrian Newey is an obvious reason. They should’ve taken up BMW’s offer to merge in the mid 2000’s. BMW we’re the quickest between 2001 to 2004. BMW could’ve delivered a WDC in 2008 - that’s a different topic in itself. Even Lawrence Stroll wanted to invest into Williams and they refused.

[@roguescorner9042]

Now that was a baffling decision on their part. You have a billionaire willing to invest top dollar into your team and you refuse? That same billionaire who invested into another F1 team which went on to become competitive enough to rival the top teams. What could've been for Williams. Let's see if James can turn them around.

[@David.....]

The problem is, that stroll wanted full control like he has at aston martin right now....Willams wanted the money, but not give up control, which in hindsight was foolish since claire sold it off to a hedgefund shortly thereafter.

[@VykronianF1]

I’m really happy Frank got to see Williams in the podium again Williams success of 2021 had little to do with the buy out. As Williams was sold around Monza 2020 which wouldn’t give enough time for the additional investment and personnel changes to catapult their results. Due to the gap between Redbull and the rest a way to close the field in a fairish is increasing the wind tunnel allowance the further down the championship you go. Bc the top teams are able to better use the little time they’re given verses Williams who can’t make best use of their big time allocation.

[@DekkarMTBtl]

3:30 - That Sega decal is amazing.

[@BOABModels]

To anyone who says Damon Hill wasn't a great driver and a worthy World champion, Adrian Newey thought he was brilliant. For arguably the greatest designer in F1 history to hold him in such high regard, that just shows how good he was. Hill's sacking prompted Newey to jump ship.

[@JohnDaubSuperfan369]

Hill was a good driver, no doubt about that, could go fast in a fast car when needed to but never truly capable of wheel-to-wheel racing, just like the Hamiltons and the Buttons. He was nowhere near being a properly great driver though, Newey thought he was brilliant for the same reason that Murray Walker and all of british media thought he was brilliant, simply because he was british. It's important to note that Hill's sole championship was utterly uncontested from round 1, the only other driver with comparable machinery was his canadian rookie teammate, whose own championship the following year was equally unimpressive despite Schumacher's challenge in that Maranello shitbox. Hill had the age advantage of coming into the sport as an adult with a fully formed brain, had he been in his early 20's when he entered I doubt he would have had much of a career because the natural speed and racecraft simply weren't there for him. Out of all the champs in the 90's, the 96-97 Williams lads were easily the least talented. Newey was a stud though so even a "good" driver could beat some actual great drivers with relative ease in one of his designs. Even Coulthard looked fast in Newey's creations whenever he wasn't slamming them into the pit entrance.

[@ihsanjayadi88]

@@JohnDaubSuperfan369Damon Hill truly is a car merchant. Although you are truly at lost if you compare him to Hamilton & Button, one of them is arguably the greatest of all time that match/beat a legendary champion in his rookie season and one is a proper championship caliber driver at the very least as seen from his performance against challenging teammates. Comparable champions in recent memory that is similar to Damon Hill in terms of being a car merchant champion is Kimi Raikkonen, and Sebastian Vettel to a lesser extent. Kimi is decent and he gets up to speed in no time, but his speed is not particularly legenderay as he is only at the same level as Massa and quite possibly multiple levels below the likes of proper champion such as Fernando Alonso as seen in their season together. Although Kimi is very likeable, the hype for his "speed" is completely undeserved and it has mostly come from his days driving Newey's Mclaren opportunistic rocketships, with people mistaking it for Kimi's speed when it actually is inherent to Newey's car. You see, media hype isn't always pro british. As for Seb, he is clearly a very good driver. At the very least, he dominated Kimi in the duration that they were teammates in Ferrari. Although beating Kimi is not that special either, as Fernando dominates Kimi even more than Seb dominates Kimi. Seb being a car merchant was revealed when he was put against actual competitive drivers instead of just lowly 2nd drivers. Seb was properly outclassed by Daniel Ricciardo on his debut on the Red Bull team. It happened again when Seb was in Ferrari, he was completely dominated by Charles Leclerc. Seb is great, but he is not as great as his stats makes him out to be. He is not on the same plane as Lewis, Michael, and even Fernando. All in all, you should look past the notion that everything are corrupted by british bias. Instead, you should take an objective look on the drivers using their teammates as a reference. The only objective comparison of F1 drivers is their form against their teammates.

[@sabataskull9661]

​​@@ihsanjayadi88 Hamilton is Hill with the best car always. Actually Damon began his story in Brabham and won with Jordan Honda and almost with Arrows yamaha. H only won with Mercedes motors. So Hill was better than H.

[@MuhammadNiz007]

The team had the final lost in 2012 when Toto left and invested in Mercedes and then in 2016 he sold all his shares in Williams and he brought in so much money with his business connections.

[@dodolurker]

Great video, thanks! I haven't thought of the Concorde Agreement angle in relation to Williams' decline. I've always thought Newey's leaving was the catalyst. But yeah, being the only independent team left definitely was a key factor, too. I'm sad I got into F1 just a bit too late (1998) and didn't get to see the iconic Rothmans Williams racing at the front, winning races and championships. Those 1998-1999 cars were dogs with ugly liveries 😃. Things definitely improved when BMW and Compaq arrived. I really became a Williams fan in 2001, when they had their first really good looking car in years, that also was capable of wins... and I was also a fan of Montoya from his CART days, so that definitely helped as well.

[@ChrisHopkinsBass]

Damon Hill said it best in his autobiography that Williams Grand Prix Engineering often gave the impression that they were an Engineering company that went Racing rather than a Racing Team

[@paulgush]

But isn't that why they were so successful back then? As Newey says, in F1, the car is the star. The better driver in the team with the best car wins the championship

[@largol33t12]

LOL, that's coming from a driver who couldn't hack it unless he had the absolute best car to win one race. True he won a race with Jordan but that's only because Schumacher and Coulthard collided in the rain because it was so damn hard to see in those conditions. His ROOKIE teammate wiped the floor with him in 1996. He should have easily won 10 races and had the title loooooong before they got to the Japanese GP but it went all the way down to the wire.

[@Roguescienceguy]

A myriad of bad decisions. Williams basically wrote the howtoo on doing what it takes to drive a team in the ground.

[@syeedchowdhury2501]

Andien newey at the centre of technological dominance of Williams, Mc laren and now Red bull . The man is a Legend

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

The thing is, Williams should have dominated basically every season from 1992-1997 with the Newey rocketships, but managed somehow to lose the drivers title in 1994 and both titles in 1995 and not completely obliterate the rest of the field in 1997. This was thanks to poor driver performances and bad decision making by the leadership. Honestly, how can you cock up the things so badly that you have Mansell, Prost and Senna, pretty much the three best drivers at that time, in the team and lose them all so quickly and replace them with mediocre drivers like Damon Hill, H-H Frentzen and Jacques Villeneuve? And most importantly, why the heck do you not listen to the wishes of Newey, the man who was the most important person for your 1990`s success? How can you manage to lose the greatest f1 designer in the world by being so ignorant? No wonder Williams has fallen so badly given how utter crap their management has been.

[@Edelweiss1102]

Overall a very good overview on Williams history. I personally do believe there are 3 points in Williams history where they really dropped the ball and that hurt them gravely. - Refusing Adrian Newey to take part in in important decisions like driver line ups that he was entitled to contractually. Newey was the brain behind the space ships of the 90es and has shown his genius with McLaren and Red Bull since. Renault leaving at the same time certainly didn't help. This decision knocked them from the top spot down to the midfield. - Refusing BMWs offer to buy/become the main sponsor of the team in 2005. BMW hat the best power train in the early 2000s, although unreliable, and Montoya even had a shot at the tile with it. Sauber became a top 3 team and WDC contender under BMW. This decision knocked Williams out of the top 3 and into the lower midfield for good. - Refusing Strolls big investment offer when they had Lance. Daddy Stroll was ready to invest big times, but they didn't want to, so he bought Racing Point instead, who is now challenging Mercedes and Ferrari for the Nr 2 spot as Aston Martin. This firmly secured Williams place at the end of the grid for the past 5 years. Franks and Patricks stubbornness and wanting to do everything on their own is admirable, but it certainly hasn't helped the team in the past 20 years. At the very least Albon did score 12 points since then an there are signs of improvement. So Williams finally seems to get their shit together again, one step at a time oc.

[@huwgrossmith9555]

Jacques got it both right n wrong when he left, he said 20 years, its been that plus....

[@reptongeek]

Williams has fallen further than McLaren in the last ten years. If the 10-6-4-3-2-1 scoring system that the sport used when I first started watching the sport was still in force now, they would have scored 0 points for several years. McLaren by contrast has never done this even in the GP2 engine era

[@timonsolus]

Yes - the last season in which Williams had a result higher than 6th ON MERIT was in 2017, Williams' last competitive season in which they scored 83 points and their last podium ON MERIT. (I'm stressing ON MERIT because the farcical 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, in which only 2 laps were completed behind the safety car and half points were still awarded, doesn't deserve to be considered - although Russell did a fantastic job to qualify 2nd in the wet.) The 2021 season was the only one out of the last 5 seasons that Williams finished higher than last in the constructor's championship (they were 8th in 2021, and still would have been 8th without the 9 points from the farce in Spa). In the other 4 seasons Williams were the backmarkers. It's very sad that the once-mighty Williams team have become the Minardi of modern F1.

[@ForzaPolska06]

Williams is severely underfunded That's their biggest problem, their facilities are most likely the worst in F1

[@swampthing94]

The fact that they rejected the chance to become a BMW works team ruined them for good. The 2014 Williams benefited hugely from the all conquering Merc engine

[@richardlong6097]

It's sad to see. The CA really hurt the team that had made terrible decisions within the team. Today, F1 only wants manufactures w unlimited budgets, which is a decision that in the long term could slaughter the sport. When bean counters that view racing as a revenue stream and lack the true passion and dedication that makes motorsport so great, it doesn't usually end well. We've seen for generations when someone doesn't like a rule/change, then starts bleeding from the rectal area, they just quit.

[@gswizzy17]

I do think Williams is successful, but not more than McLaren. I think it ultimately comes down to the fact the McLaren has more GP wins and most of all drivers titles, however this is just my opinion

[@cliffthelightning]

I grew up cheering for the Rothmans Williams cars, loved Damon and Jaqcues. Still root for them but it hasnt been good for a while

[@avada0]

What's unfathomable is why did the teams sign the 98 Concorde agreement. It seems nuts... I wish there was more info about this in the video.

[@joaomota6425]

Good video. More themes like this pls!!

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Any ideas let me know!

[@joaomota6425]

@@BehindTheDriveOfficial Deep dives that make recent fans understand the sport like veterans. Not just the classic themes, but what's the teams and drivers backgrounds; why some strategies work or not in relation to other team's; but more important - how to look at a race and know how to fully appreciate it. Thanks for the effort!!!

[@chicobicalho5621]

In 2014, Williams came out of a down period, not unlike the one now, and, although not winning any races, managed a third place in the Constructors in 2014 and 2015, with a rookie driver (Bottas) and a veteran, "damaged goods" driver (Massa). 2014 seemed a miracle year for Williams, but the brigade was great, with Pat Symonds, designing a very capable car, developed by an experienced Massa, with a Mercedes engine, the best in the field back then. Now, this miracle seems much more complex to obtain, and a lot more unlikely to ever happen.

[@MCPunk55]

Instead of banning cars, they should strive for actual innovation. Force the other teams to catch up or be left behind.

[@GarageGuerilla]

The only person who's responsible for Williams' downfall is the late Frank Williams himself. They had an agreement with Newey that states Adrian had a say in driver selection and technical direction. But Frank and Patrick Head became asshats in 1996, firing Hill after he clinched a title with them, and of course Newey wasn't informed. This is the reason why Newey left, because he was disrespected big time.

[@michaeldr6070]

I hope that we get to see Williams being competitive again soon. Would be great if it were to be with Renault or Honda engines

[@BGRUBBIN]

I am more surprised they have lasted this long!

[@ralphe5842]

I think you need to edit your dates 1997?

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Yep, made an error there...

[@AlistairMaxwell77]

damn..... even the spec indycar dallara dw12 chassis has better ground effects tunnel development than the williams.

[@filipfarbiak9336]

Years from 2014 to first half of 2017 were very solid for Williams. After that there was only downfall. The thing is in 2017 one guy came and his name was Paddy Lowe. Someone who I think is responsible for it. He came from Mercedes where he had everything, but in Williams he needed to adapt, which he did not. He spend money on bit silly upgrades that weren't working, instead of working on quite good concept which was built before his arrival.

[@MooncricketsInc]

Being a Ferrari fan the past dozen years or so has been rough, but glad I'm not a williams supporter.

[@darijanmitev9473]

Just give me 3 seasons on f1 manager

[@w4pz859]

damn, they really build a car without the help of digital tool

[@nicolasfurger1032]

F1 needs more teams on the grid.

[@ConnbineHarvester]

Jesus, it's hard to know what really messed up the Rothmans car

[@markko17]

There always seemed a lot of soap opera going on at Williams (like there isn't with every team). And for a long time I chalked most of it up to Mansell and Mansell being Mansell. But when they fired Damon Hill I decided lot of this was coming from Frank and Patrick.

[@thetruebatman4632]

Yoooo more of these vids this one is amazing.

[@GangsterJoey]

What’s funny ab this video is in the 3 races, Albon has scored 12 points for Williams and they’ve made good upgrades.

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Huge progress, and a lot of that has been Vowles' approach to the team management. I don't believe they have the facilities to progress right to the front but I have the confidence he is the right man for the job!

[@javiazar]

Before even watching, I can tell you the downfall of Williams was treating Adrian Newey like shit in the 90s, prompting his exit to McLaren.

[@rars0n]

James Vowles is doing a hell of a job so far. I hope they continue to improve.

[@huwgrossmith9555]

I think you need to do this again. Not arguing about their downfall but they are NOT the only independent team left - while the funding may be different - McLaren are still independent!

[@CasperEgas]

I think you missed the point. Williams already dropped off in 1997 and 1998 even more. Losing Newie was very important. McLaren still did great and you could say they were the same type of team. So it is more complicated than you put it.

[@InnerTurbulencia]

First hand experience here, the way Williams were doing CFD 3-4 years ago was laughable. Can't elaborate, not here to whistle blow!

[@faulypi]

Why did the teams sign on to that agreement??

[@luiscarlosvieira3966]

Newey went to McLaren in 97... that was the main reason... Newey doesn't need cutting edge facilities... just a pencil and a sheet of paper...

[@crapmalls]

Williams liked innovating. Making the best Lego car better than the other Lego cars wasn't their forte

[@nicolasgarcia248]

Frank Williams is the reason behind it all. He made Williams as good as it was, but he also made Williams as bad as it was later... When he decided that Claire was the person to lead the team.

[@imibuks-replit]

As a person who watched f1 in 2022 and 2023, I agree.

[@eamonnmckeown6770]

Not giving Newey an ownership stake when he asked for it. Doom loop commenced.

[@JStryker7]

Losing the cheat code Newey was massive

[@JamesStewart-p8s]

The biggest mistake was allowing a novice level welder to modify Sennas steering column at Imola in 1994. Then the other big mistake was putting David Coulthard up to the job of lying about how the steering column was supposedly designed to telescope forward backwards and side to side. The Williams team has gotten the karma they so truly deserved. The fact that they try to call themselves honoring Sennas legacy by putting his name in the car is a yoke.

[@rubes55]

where did you find that it was a ‘novice welder’ that modified his car? i’ve researched this and i can’t find anything such as, only that it broke. and i think calling the failure of a team is ‘karma’ for Senna’s death. seems melodramatic to me, seeing as it is really down to bad management, behind-time facilities and shit drivers

[@CatsAndCode]

"Williams relies on Liability". Noticed how he conveniently "forgot" 1994?

[@13bathory1986]

its weird if you watch F1 since the 90s and compare it to today. Williams is far behind while a Verstappen is in front.

[@beaterbagcar]

Great video this was

[@ryaramaf1gobshite397]

Was the early 90’s great compared to today or do I jst look back with fond memories???

[@miggygetright6344]

Only way I see Williams doing good is if they take the Haas approach and buy everything they can from Mercedes, this’ll cut themselves some slack and if they get to maximize their package they’ll have at times the 5th quickest car. With Vowles I think they’ll go in this direction but as for championships, I can’t see them returning to them unless that they get a works partner.

[@niallhiggins2342]

That’s not the Haas approach tho

[@miggygetright6344]

@@niallhiggins2342 haas buy everything from Ferrari, Williams should buy everything from Mercedes and build their own chassis as they already do

[@miamithijs3579]

I just saw that Sega sponsored their most succesfull car. Another company that made some bad choices

[@fatrick5004]

Williams is nothing out of the ordinary in F1, just look at Lotus and Tyrell (which is sort off linked to today’s Mercedes team) which have both dominated and then become back markers before the owners sold up.

[@HikarusVibrator]

I really like this channel, but not mentioning Paddy Lowe’s skrewup is poor

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Thanks for watching! I considered it, but it didn't make the final edit. I could have spent a lot of time looking at their success at the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era and how that was still dependent on having a good engine supplier. In the end I have to bear in mind how long the videos that tend to be successful on my channel need to be! Thanks for your feedback though 👌

[@HikarusVibrator]

@@BehindTheDriveOfficial Good points. Thanks for responding - appreciate it :)

[@HikarusVibrator]

@@BehindTheDriveOfficial been here since sub 10k subs btw =D

[@deabreu.tattoo]

Williams was making shit cars way before BMW left them. The move that caused the fall was firing Hill, souring their relationship with Newey and losing him to McLaren

[@SaintGBar22]

They have the name but they’re not really Williams anymore

[@maskmonkeycustompaint]

losing Adrian was the turning point and having his daughter run it even worse, sorry to say but now its not in family hands, Williams are dead and so sad as I have been following them since the late 70s. When they fired Hill after winning the championship I thought that it was bad and its just got worse for them.

[@hotwings9382]

1997

[@fillusrahim-xy9ib]

FIA always find something to screw things up

[@rhodriedwardwilliams]

Needed to sell to BMW they would have pumped £300million in. The family could have bought it back just like Sauber

[@skizzysmith1146]

forget racing, welcome financial speed merchants

[@typeRbullmv1]

williams can be revived 1st change engine to williams honda not mercedes. they only a jr team of mercedes, mercedes only benefit not williiams

[@Halbi1987]

The "giant" just went to Red Bull :D

[@AS34N]

It's easy. Partner with honda=win

[@andrewbenjamin1708]

Williams exists currently only to witness Adrian Neweys success

[@sundaydriver15]

20 years from now we will see “the fall of Ferrari” videos… 😢

[@AA-db9cb]

8:08 Maldonado better than Kimi and Alonso

[@augustinep6193]

Good.

[@mezykin]

Williams are the Leeds United of F11

[@Elaba_]

The rise and fall and rise of Williams.

[@MrDewanchand]

Giving your daughter the whole company to run into the ground.

[@WEBBERSPADE]

This aged well!

[@BehindTheDriveOfficial]

Well given it's primarily about the history it hasn't really aged! But it's great to see Williams fighting for points consistently, they have turned a corner.

[@WEBBERSPADE]

@@BehindTheDriveOfficial It's great. It's terrific how (quite rightly) a 4 week old video had context that they are permanent back markers. On Friday it looked like they could be top 5 in qualifying. F1 is in a good place now.

[@BlueJazzBoyNZ]

Adrian Newey Left

[@guiltfiend]

Lilliams

[@EderL.A]

I can build an f1 car with my 3D printer