Why a new era for Williams could beckon success

In four decades as a Formula 1 constructor, the Williams family had controlled the team that bears its name. In that time, founders Frank Williams and Patrick Head oversaw seven drivers' titles, nine constructors' championships, and 114 wins.

But the team's 43rd season as an F1 constructor will go down as unique in its long, illustrious history - 2020 was the year the Williams family exited F1.

In April, the team announced that it had secured future resources by refinancing its corporate borrowings with loans and the funds from selling its Williams Advanced Engineering division the previous December. But seven weeks later, the news dropped that it had split with its title sponsor and that the partial or full sale of the squad was being considered.

The team unveiled a new livery ahead of the belated 2020 season opener in Austria, and took it racing in the opening rounds with new line-up George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. As they got to grips with finally unleashing the FW43s in anger, the team committed to F1's new Concorde Agreement - its position in the championship cemented until 2025 along with the rest. Then, just after the Spanish Grand Prix in August, it was announced that US private investment firm Dorilton Capital would be the new owner.

PLUS: Why team sale provides the reset Williams needs

Founder and team principal Frank Williams, his daughter and deputy Claire, and CEO Mike O'Driscoll chose to step aside in the weeks that followed, saying an emotional farewell at the Italian GP. But the Williams name and culture will live on.

"Dorilton don't want to shift that lovely feel that exists within Williams, that family spirit and friendliness," says Williams's new team principal Simon Roberts, who only joined as F1 managing director in June.

One of F1's great dynasties is no more. It leaves behind a team that remains in F1's rough waters at the back of the grid, but is no longer in the doldrums. The team remained 10th and last in the constructors' championship in 2020, this time without scoring a single point, but it is pretty firmly on the up.

"We're a whole team, we can do everything," says Roberts, who was previously McLaren's operations boss. "We're just not in the right place on the grid right now. That's the mission - to get ourselves back where we should be."

And the reasons for optimism were clear in winter testing - an age ago now, or so it feels - when Russell, who stayed on for a second (nearly full) year after impressing as a rookie in 2019, said: "We've definitely reduced the gap."

"It's a much better car - definitely. The best thing about it is it responds to set-up changes and it behaves much more like a proper Formula 1 car than the car last year" Dave Robson

The FW43 may not have got the point its predecessor somewhat lucked into at the 2019 German GP, but Williams has had an easier time unlocking its potential. Back at Barcelona, Russell noted the car's handling was much better, less scary to drive, which naturally increased driver confidence.

"There's no doubt it's a much better car - definitely," says Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson. "The best thing about it is it responds to set-up changes and it behaves much more like a proper Formula 1 car than the car last year. We can at least use it and manipulate it.

"Obviously, it's still not terribly quick. It needs more work. And we'd like it to have been faster by [the end of the season]. But it is considerably better than 12 months ago."

At the season opener, the team qualified 17th and 20th - both drivers out in Q1. In the chaotic race, Russell's fuel pressure loss-related retirement caused the late safety-car-restart drama, while Latifi came home 11th - last of the finishers - on his F1 race debut. The F1 pack stayed in Austria for a second go, which featured torrential weather on the middle day of track action. But in the gloom and the pounding precipitation, Williams gained two important things.

The first was Russell's 12th place in qualifying, the team's first Q2 appearance since the 2018 Brazilian GP. But the second was early indications of how to improve the FW43, which the team got more of from further wet weather at the subsequent Hungarian GP.

"It becomes obvious when you get more extreme conditions - when it rains, for example - that pushes the rear wings harder, and you start to get an idea of how close to the edge they are," Robson says of the key aerodynamic part that Williams tweaked twice in 2020 to unlock more performance.

"It allowed us to refresh the rear-wing design and not only make them more stable, but also improve their performance. That's actually been quite good and a fruitful area to work on the car."

Russell's qualifying magic didn't really stop all year, not even when Mercedes came calling for the penultimate round. He got out of Q1 on eight further occasions in 2020 for Williams, which gave a boost to the squad that has not had all that much to celebrate during its years of sliding to the back of the pack.

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But Williams did not give up, even when 2020 threw up some particular challenges. At the Turkish GP, 26 of its race personnel, plus Roberts, were impacted by several positive COVID-19 tests and ensuing contact-tracing isolations.

The team was forced to draft in temporary replacements from its factory-based car-build staff, some of whom were even substituted into the pitstop crew. The stops were "still extremely good", according to Robson.

"That was a standout moment for me," says Roberts, who is yet to meet everyone in the team in person because of the pandemic restrictions requiring some to continuously work from home. "I'm so proud of what everybody did. But actually, that's what Williams is like - I really mean that. The team is about the people and what they can do, and it's amazing. We're really proud of everybody here."

The next stage of life for the famous marque will be its first year fully under Dorilton command. Upon taking over the team, it was announced that a transitional period would take place to allow it to review the business, and just over a week before Christmas it was confirmed that Roberts would remain as full-time team principal.

Joining him in February as the new CEO will be Jost Capito, 62, the vastly experienced former head of Volkswagen's motorsport division who briefly held the same role at McLaren in 2016.

"Aspirationally, this is a five-to-ten-year plan with Dorilton. That really helps when we're making these investments" Simon Roberts

"It is an honour to be a part of the future of this storied team, and one that carries such a poignant name in the sport," he said, "so I approach this challenge with great respect and with a huge amount of relish."

The 31 December cost-cap deadline is firmly in mind, after which Williams and its F1 rivals can 'only' spend $145million (£107m) in 2021, and ahead of this date investment has been made in factory upkeep, windtunnel maintenance and general facilities.

"Beyond that, we're very open minded, and Dorilton are very open minded," says Roberts (below). "What we haven't done yet is set the next three to five years. Aspirationally, this is a five-to-ten-year plan with Dorilton. That really helps when we're making these investments."

Williams repeated Latifi's 11th-place finish in three more races - the Canadian in the frenzied Monza and Imola races, plus Russell taking his own at Mugello. But it couldn't quite get over the line into the top 10, with Russell's poor third start at Mugello and his crash behind the safety car at Imola costing the team its best two chances of scoring a point.

The FW43 had an inconsistent start procedure as the team found it tough to estimate the expected grid grip, and it struggled when it came to being loaded up with fuel and the knock-on impact that has on tyre management in races. This somewhat explains the pace imbalance the team suffered from all year, usually slipping backwards from its decent grid spots.

"We've got a better idea [of why that was], but there's probably a little bit more work to go there," says Robson.

But the work on the rear wing and changes the team made to the car's drag levels helped it improve in end-of-straight speed, which had been another reason for its in-race struggles. Towards the final European races, Williams got more of a handle on this and Robson says it "made a difference and improved our Sunday performance".

Looking onwards into 2021, "some development" of the largely carried-over FW43 will take place. This will generally be focused on the required floor changes and working the new tyres - "a case of continuous development in all the areas that the aero regs allow", according to Robson.

Of course, the spectre of 2022 looms, and before too long that development focus will be redirected fully on F1's latest rules revolution. Williams will be hoping the new technical regulations, and the playing field-levelling aims of the cost cap, will help it climb back towards its former F1 glory. But the team can at least reflect on 2020 as having closed the gap to the rest and got involved in some scraps at times.

Russell continues his rise

Russell and Latifi formed Williams's fifth different driver line-up in five years, with Russell staying on board from 2019.

That changed the dynamic for the young Briton, who, before Mercedes drafted him into its line-up for the Sakhir Grand Prix as Lewis Hamilton's stand-in, was the (relatively) experienced incumbent now paired with a rookie.

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Russell led the way in qualifying, claiming all of Williams's prized Q2 progressions and remaining unbeaten against Latifi in the 16 sessions they completed together. But without his Mercedes call-up it is likely that he would have finished behind his team-mate in the final standings, given Latifi's three 11ths to Russell's one.

Nevertheless, Williams was pleased with what it saw from its returning star, who is set to be back for a third year in 2021.

"He was clearly strong last year, but the car didn't allow him to show that and he still had an awful lot to learn," says Robson. "Between us and him, we've built on that. He's been getting steadily better every race.

"He's getting better, learning the ropes, and he's doing a very good job" Dave Robson on Nicholas Latifi

"What we saw [of him in the Mercedes being] actually very close to Valtteri [Bottas], hopefully that's justification of our faith in his ability. But also the work we've done with him and the work he's done himself over the past 18 months. He's been outstanding all year. He just continually improves. He's very good."

Robson says Latifi is "such a nice, quiet guy, you kind of forget that actually rooted there is a ruthless racing driver, as you'd hope and expect". But Williams is pleased with the progress Latifi made, which could be seen in his qualifying and race performances later in the year. One repeated feature was his tendency to make mistakes at key moments, such as final qualifying runs.

"He's coming along very well," says Robson. "He was obviously in a slightly different role [for the final races] and he led more of the team's progress in George's absence, which is really good to see. He's getting better, learning the ropes, and he's doing a very good job."

The Formula 1 season review edition of Autosport magazine, featuring Grand Prix editor Alex Kalinauckas' ranking of the 10 best drivers of 2020, analysis of Sebastian Vettel's final season at Ferrari and much more, will be available to buy from 31 December.