Frank Williams was the longest-serving team principal of Formula 1, marking his 50 years as a team boss in 2019. The founder and former chief of Williams F1 died at the age of 79 on Sunday.
After a roll-over car accident in 1986 rendered Frank a person with quadriplegia, he would return to the team after the accident and guide them through their most successful period, during the late 1980s and 1990s.
In 1977, Frank Williams joined forces with innovative motor racing engineer Patrick Head to launch Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Clay Regazzoni registered the team's first Grand Prix win at Silverstone in 1979, and a year later, Australian Alan Jones won the team's first drivers' title.
Keke Rosberg took the 1982 title, with five more captured in a golden period between 1987 and 1997, all after Williams' ill-fated 1986 dash to catch a flight in France and the car crash that left him paralysed.
Williams steered Nelson Piquet to the following season's title, with Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost following up in 1992 and 1993.
Ayrton Senna, who had won three world championships with McLaren, joined for the 1994 season, only to lose his life in a high-speed crash at Imola. The last Williams driver to win a world championship was Canada's Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.
Nine constructors' crowns place Williams second only to Ferrari in the all-time Formula 1 list.
Vale Frank Williams
After a roll-over car accident in 1986 rendered Frank a person with quadriplegia, he would return to the team after the accident and guide them through their most successful period, during the late 1980s and 1990s.
In 1977, Frank Williams joined forces with innovative motor racing engineer Patrick Head to launch Williams Grand Prix Engineering. Clay Regazzoni registered the team's first Grand Prix win at Silverstone in 1979, and a year later, Australian Alan Jones won the team's first drivers' title.
Keke Rosberg took the 1982 title, with five more captured in a golden period between 1987 and 1997, all after Williams' ill-fated 1986 dash to catch a flight in France and the car crash that left him paralysed.
Williams steered Nelson Piquet to the following season's title, with Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost following up in 1992 and 1993.
Ayrton Senna, who had won three world championships with McLaren, joined for the 1994 season, only to lose his life in a high-speed crash at Imola. The last Williams driver to win a world championship was Canada's Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.
Nine constructors' crowns place Williams second only to Ferrari in the all-time Formula 1 list.
Vale Frank Williams