Williams will use a special livery for the German Grand Prix marking their 600th race start.
The FW35s will carry the number ‘600’ on their sidepods and carry the names of 691 employees who work for the Williams Group.
“For an independent team like Williams to reach 600 races at the pinnacle of motorsport is a remarkable achievement,” said team founder Frank Williams.
“Seventy-eight teams have come and gone or changed ownership since our foundation and our longevity is a testament to the thousands of people who have sacrificed so much to keep us here. It seems only right to mark this milestone at the home of British motorsport alongside our loyal British fans.”
Williams scored their first F1 victory at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in 1979. Clay Regazzoni won after team mate Alan Jones retired from the lead.
They went on to amass a total of 114 wins and 297 podium appearances. They’ve won the constructors’ championship nine times and their drivers have won the drivers’ title on seven occasions.
Deputy team principal Claire Williams said: “Williams has never been an organisation to dwell on what has gone before, but this weekend we will be rightly celebrating our heritage and reflecting on some of our defining moments over the past 36 years.”
“This is also an opportunity for us to take stock and look ahead to the future, making sure that we have the necessary pieces in place to make our next 600 races just as memorable.”
Only Ferrari (858) and McLaren (730) have started more races than Williams.
Update: This article was revised to correct an error – the livery will appear at the German Grand Prix, not the British race.
2013 German Grand Prix
Image © Williams/LAT
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
25th June 2013, 11:53
Just a shame their in decline….
Their win last year seems a long way away.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
25th June 2013, 12:40
@full-throttle-f1 it’s certainly not their best days ever, but they can well hit back and get close to the top again like last year.
It’s good for F1 that Williams’ still going on strong…
Carlitox (@carlitox)
25th June 2013, 19:23
I honestly think Merc engines will help a lot. I really have high hopes for them next season.
Skett (@skett)
26th June 2013, 0:24
They’re currently using the same engines as the champions, I’m not sure the engine is their issue.
ajokay (@)
25th June 2013, 11:56
Oh, I thought by ‘special’ they actually meant special, not just putting a number on the sidepods where there is currently… nothing.
A FW07 or FW14b replica livery would have been nice!
nackavich (@nackavich)
25th June 2013, 12:05
@ajokay I guess the last few years their livery has been homage to the early 90’s design anyways, and since the FW07 was white anyways I guess putting the names of the employees is a nice gesture without siding with well known/legendary liveries.
As long as its not a replica of the FW20…
Lucas Wilson (@full-throttle-f1)
25th June 2013, 12:09
@nackavich
I liked the FW20.
Klon (@)
25th June 2013, 13:02
So Coulthard’s Law will strike again. Well, not like Williams looked like scoring points but it most certainly won’t help their cause.
BigVettelFan (@formula1gp)
25th June 2013, 14:14
Well done FW35!
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
25th June 2013, 15:51
Well nice for williams to have that milestone but that doesn’t cover the fact they’re still dropping down the pecking order like a stone. Claire Williams for instance still seems to think Williams is the top of cream while in fact they’re not even strong enough to keep up with the midfield. I think they’re happy they at least have some speed to stay ahead of the Caterhams and Marussias of this world.
Anyway happy 600th race Williams boys!
OmarR-Pepper (@)
25th June 2013, 15:59
They should use that white, yellow and blue livery which gave them so many good moments
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th June 2013, 16:07
Congratulations to the Williams team on their 600th race! It is gratifying to see a privateer with such longevity in the intricate, exclusive, super expensive and unforgiving motorsport that is Formula 1. With more wins and titles than many larger factory teams that have come and gone, Williams have shown they know what it takes to be successful in F1. The nature of motorsports is highly cyclical, even for the richest and largest of teams. Williams had a competitive car last season and I believe they have the skills and dedication to make that happen again.
When I became a fan of F1 in the 1960s the privateers like Colin Chapman, Dan Gurney and Bruce McLaren intrigued me the most. The teams they built and the success they achieved were special. To me, Williams harkens back to that era and that spirit of Formula 1.
Zandvoortfan (@zandvoortfan)
25th June 2013, 16:47
78 Teams have come and gone since Williams F1 were founded – how many can you name? I can think of the following:
Andrea Moda
Spirit
BAR
Ligier
Alfa Romeo
Arrows
Larrousse?
Pacific
Ensign
BRM – I think they were around when Williams F1 started with Larry Perkins as the driver
LOLA
Toyota
Penske
March
Beatrice
Teams that have morphed – do they count?
Benetton>Renault>Lotus
Tyrrell>BAR>Honda>Brawn>Mercedes
Minardi>Torro Rosso
BMW>Sauber
Stewart>Jaguar>Red Bull
Does the failed US F1 Team count or was that just a figment of our collective imaginations?
Which ones have I missed?
Todfod (@todfod)
25th June 2013, 17:52
I dont think BMW > Sauber is really accurate. I remember Sauber being around for ages before it became BMW then BMW Sauber and finally back to Sauber
You missed Super Aguri, Arrows and Jordan to add to your list.
Todfod (@todfod)
25th June 2013, 17:54
My Bad it was Williams BMW, which later became BMW Sauber. Dont remember if BMW was ever in the sport as an independent team
Zandvoortfan (@zandvoortfan)
25th June 2013, 22:25
Williams never became Sauber, Williams did run BMW engines for a while – BMW took over Sauber and then basically handed it back to Peter Sauber when they bailed out. Williams has always been an independent and sometimes this has cost them dear. They have lost engine deals with Honda, Renault and BMW in the past for various reasons the most shameful probably being Honda deciding that a Paraplegic would not be an effective Team Manager – Ron Dennis on the other hand realised that FW in a wheelchair would be a formidable adversary as he would be able to divert all his energies to F1.
MVerstappen (@mverstappen)
25th June 2013, 18:24
Jordan Grand Prix > Midland F1 Racing > Spyker F1 Team > Force India
Simtek
Prost Grand Prix
March > Leyton House
pH (@ph)
25th June 2013, 19:21
What if it was meant as “78 teams have come and/or have gone”, in which case there would be lots of names to choose from (Brabham, Shadow, Surtees,… as those leaving, and Caterham etc as those coming). The teams you list managed both, we may count them twice :-).
PJ (@)
25th June 2013, 20:03
Here’s a poster I created last year that will answer this very question.
Zandvoortfan (@zandvoortfan)
25th June 2013, 22:21
Jeez, I had forgotten some of the horrendous attempts of the mid 80’s and early 90’s – Eurobrun, AGS, Dallara, ONYX, AGS, LIFE et all.
morleyfanatic (@morleyfanatic)
26th June 2013, 12:38
Brilliant!
Willl (@willl)
26th June 2013, 17:46
Superb piece of work! Nicely presented
BJ (@beejis60)
25th June 2013, 20:27
You’re also forgetting HRT ;)
MagillaGorilla (@magillagorilla)
26th June 2013, 5:20
@zandvoortfan I was going to say Shadow and HRT, but I was beat to it by @Ph anyways good memory by you guys.
bull mello (@bullmello)
27th June 2013, 0:24
@zandvoortfan
I came up with about 69. Might have missed some?
This was not from memory, obviously. Funny thing is, I’ve been a Formula 1 fan since the 60s and can’t remember a lot of these teams. Of course some were forgettable, racing maybe only one or two races.
AGS
Alfa Romeo
Andrea Moda
Arrows
ATS
BAR
Benetton
BMW
BMW Sauber
BRM
Brabham
Brawn
Coloni
Dallara
Ensign
EuroBrun
Fittipaldi
Fondmetal
Footwork
Forti
Hesketh
Honda
HRT
Jaguar
Jordan
Kauhsen
Kojima
Lamborghini 291
Larrousse
LEC
Leyton House
Life
Ligier
Lola
March
McGuire
Merzario
MF1
Minardi
Onyx
Osella
Pacific
Penske
Prost
RAM
Rebaque
Renault
Rial
Shadow
Simtek
Spirit
Spyker
Stewart
Super Aguri
Surtees
Talbot
Theodore
Toleman
Toyota
TWR
Tyrrell
Virgin
Wolf
Zakspeed
Edward (@zeuss20)
25th June 2013, 19:31
Other teams I can name that are not in F1 anymore since Williams
Central Park Modena Team
Osella which then became Fondmetal
Forti Corse
Onyx, which became Monteverdi
Brabham
Minardi which then became Torro Rosso
BMS Scuderia Italia which I believe merged with Minardi in 1994?
Life
Eurobrun
Coloni
Ligier which became Prost
Hispania Racing Team which then became just HRT
Umar Majid (@um1234)
25th June 2013, 20:01
I really want Williams to win the world championship once again, hoping they shock everyone and make a car that is capable of winning the world championship. People don’t think much of Williams its only the fans who watched F1 in the 70’s or later know the true story. I didn’t think much of Williams F1 until I researched about the team. Legendary team, legendary owner, its a shame they’re not good enough at the moment.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
25th June 2013, 20:17
It is hard for someone who has begun watching F1 as recently as I have, to really grasp how long Williams have been around for. 600 races, 9 constructors, 7 WDC’s are historic and yet the F1 fan of today sees a Williams team struggling in the lower mid-field, with occasional flashes of brilliance. It is really hard to understand what causes a highly successful team like them to fall so low in the pecking order.
Was it lack of resources, which a 9 time winning team should have had no difficulty in finding? Was it mismanagement? Or simply is it that F1 is no longer welcoming or forgiving of the smaller teams? The fact that no matter how much a team like Toro Rosso or Force India or Sauber or Williams might like, they would most likely not get anywhere with the cost situation the way it is in F1. We all spent the last 3 weeks debating whether Mercedes was right to hold a secret F1 test without even realizing that an HRT, even if it had the opportunity, might not have been able to afford it.
I haven’t watched this sport for very long but I believe teams like Williams, Sauber, Caterham, Marussia, Toro Rosso and Force India are extremely important for this sport. They cannot be left out and considered as non-entities just because they cannot afford to spend as many resources on developing the car or the team as the Ferrari’s or Red Bull’s.
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th June 2013, 20:57
In the 1960s and 1970s F1 was more mechanical application, innovation and experience. Teams with a limited budget could still experience great success against factory teams with the right ingredients of design, engine power and drivers. Read up on Dan Gurney, for example, and what he was able to accomplish starting out with just desire, some racing experience and ideas.
As the sport became more technical the design shifted to computer and wind tunnel with huge staffs, manufacturing and test facilities. Even the smaller teams are huge and the big guys have such huge budgets it boggles the mind and makes it difficult for the smaller teams to be as effective. But, it still can happen and like you, I believe the smaller teams are important too.
Motorsports success is cyclical and even the biggest teams with the most resources have down cycles. see: McLaren now and Ferrari pre – Michael Schumacher. Teams nowadays need the best people they can get for all positions and a bit of luck or magic. I really thought Williams was on the cusp from last season to this season. With the complexity of F1, not one team has all the answers. Right now Red Bull may be on top with their success, but it cannot last indefinitely. Another team will rise to the top. Who will it be? That is why I have been watching for almost 40 years.
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
25th June 2013, 21:49
Didn’t Claire Williams say in Canada that their 600th race will be in Germany?
bull mello (@bullmello)
25th June 2013, 23:35
Celebrating at Silverstone, actual 600th is the German GP.
KDesser (@)
26th June 2013, 19:19
Pastor better gives them a win again then!