Frank Williams is living proof that one can overcome adversity. Only a driver of amateur talent, Williams developed a firm friendship with Piers Courage and together they teamed up in 1969. The following season Williams ran Courage in a de Tomaso, but it was nowhere up to the standard of the Brabham he had raced in 69.

Piers Courage was tragically killed in a fiery accident in the Dutch Grand Prix later that year and Williams was devastated. He struggled financially, running a selection of pay driver. He teamed up with Walter Wolf in 1976, but that turned sour, so the decision was made, he founded Williams Grand Prix Engineering with Patrick Head.

While Williams was spending many hours trying to attract Saudi Arabian backing, Head's FW06 allowed Alan Jones to put in some decent performances in 1978. The first Grand Prix victory came in 1979 when Clay Regazzoni won in the FW07 at Silverstone, then Alan Jones went on to finish the season with some great drives.

In 1980, Alan Jones had a new team-mate, Carlos Reutemann and that year Jones won the title and Williams first Constructors' title. The team won again the following year, although Jones lost out to Nelson Piquet in the drivers fight and quit the sport. Turbos began to appear, but Keke Rosberg won the drivers title still in the Ford Cosworth powered Williams, although the team didn't celebrate victory that season, Ferrari did. A deal was struck with Honda, and although the V6 turbo was heavy and brutal, with development and time, the team once again saw victory in 86 although the drivers title went to Alain Prost due to a tyre failure on Nigel Mansell's car in Adelaide with only 18 laps to go.

Although the team saw victory with the Constructors title again that year, they also saw tragedy as Frank Williams was involved in a car accident on his way back from testing at Paul Ricard and was paralysed.

In 1987 with Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell in his cars, Williams watched as his drivers once again won both championships in the FW11. Piquet left for Lotus the following year and as well as losing a driver, the team lost the Honda engines, which proved dreadful for the 1988 season.

After struggling through the year season with Judd V8 power, 1989 saw them team up with Renault and although the cars were fast, they didn't have a top-line driver line up until 1991 when Mansell returned after his two year spell with Ferrari. Although the new FW14 was a superb machine, Mansell lost out to Ayrton Senna due to gearbox reliability problems, but the following year, Mansell was unbeatable, winning nine straight races to win both titles for Williams once again.

After a battle over contracts, Mansell left for Indy racing, now called Champ Car, and Alain Prost took his seat, delivering Williams second back-to-back double victory.

Frank Williams was the first team owner to give Senna an F1 test and wanted the then rising Brazilian star on his team. He eventually signed Senna for the 1994 season, but tragically, Senna was killed in only his third race for the team. David Coulthard rose from the test driver to fill Senna's' seat while Damon Hill saved the terribly sad year by challenging Michael Schumacher for the crown. Although the Englishman lost out on the drivers' crown, he did secure another Constructors' title for the team.

In 1995, Benetton also had use of the dominant Renault engines, as well as the superb driving of Michael Schumacher. Williams scored five wins that year, four for Hill and one for Coulthard. 1996 was by far a better year, with Jacques Villeneuve, fresh from Indy Cars and Hill won all bar four races between them. Hill won the drivers' crown with Villeneuve a close second, and between them, they delivered Williams' eighth Constructors' trophy. Hill left the team at the end of that season, and Villeneuve, partnered now by Heinz-Harald Frentzen went on to win the third back-to-back double victory in what was a ninth victory, the last to date.

Unfortunately for the team, a combination of things made the 1998 and 1999 nothing short of disasters - relatively speaking. Renault quit the F1 scene and they were left with the under powered Supertec engines and McLaren reclaimed its dominance.

At the end of the 1997 season Villeneuve left for the new revamped Tyrrell team, renamed BAR while Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined Jordan. For 1999, Williams signed the then CART champion, Alex Zanardi, hoping for a repeat of Villeneuve's winning drives. Alongside him was Ralf Schumacher. Zanardi struggled badly on his return to F1 and finished the season pointless. Ralf Schumacher secured a few podium finishes in what was a disappointing season.

Zanardi didn't start the 2000 season with the team, after his contract was terminated in January. Williams opted to go for the raw young talent of 20-year-old English driver, Jenson Button in the hope that he could deliver what Zanardi couldn't. The season was a lot better with the arrival of BMW as engine supplier and technical partner. The team managed to secure third place in the constructors fight.

Button moved on to Renault at the end of the season and Williams brought in Juan Pablo Montoya. Stunning the Formula One world in his rookie season, the Colombian driver was plagued by reliability issues throughout the year but after securing several Pole Positions and podium finishes, he took his maiden victory at the Italian Grand Prix. Together with team-mate Ralf Schumacher the team laid claim to four victories and were hot on the gearbox of rivals at McLaren in the Constructors' championship, but were forced to settle for third place overall.

2002 saw them move ahead of McLaren and claim second in the Constructor's championship with Montoya securing third and Ralf fourth place in the drivers' campaign. The driver pairing continued together in 2003 and while they were able to close the gap to Ferrari and momentarily led the Constructors' championship come Japan they had to once again settle for second place. The 2004 season was remembered for the tusk nose design that was abandoned mid-season. Sam Michael took over as Technical Director with Patrick Head taking a less hands on role back at the Williams factory. Montoya won the final race of the season, capping off what had been a difficult season, in style. With four podium appearances, the squad finished fourth in the Constructors' championship 17-points behind Renault.

It was all change on the driver line-up for 2005 with Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld taking the race seats and Antonio Pizzonia taking the testing role. It was another tough season with Sam Michael and his staff throwing all sorts of aero modifications to the FW27 throughout the season. Heidfeld finished second at Monaco just ahead of Webber, but fifth position in the standings was not what the team had hoped for.

BMW announced mid-way through the 2005 season that they had purchased the Sauber team and shortly afterwards, the divorce between the Williams and BMW was confirmed as the team announced Cosworth power for 2006. Some predicted that the Williams Cosworth FW28 package could be the 'dark horse' of the 2006 season. On paper the Cosworth V8 was right up there with the very best engines in Formula One. The team signed up GP2 champion and rising star Nico Rosberg while retaining the steady hand of Mark Webber.

It was a disastrous season for the team as they scored just 11 points and finished a distant eighth in the constructors' standings with Webber managing seven points and Rosberg four. The season started brightly enough with Rosberg charging through the field in Bahrain to score two points on his Formula One debut whilst also recording the fastest lap of the race, but that was pretty much the highlight of the season. The Williams Cosworth suffered from a myriad of reliability problems and restrictive mileage on the powerplant hurt Rosberg in terms of track time at each event.

Webber had three top-eight finishes but before the season was over, the Australian had announced that he would be leaving for Red Bull in 2007. Patrick Head returned to the paddock for the season finale in Brazil with Sam Michael taking a more active role back at the Williams factory.

Back on track, Rosberg had a roller-coaster of a season with a difficult car and his final race of the year in Brazil saw the German rookie run into the back of team-mate Webber eliminating both from the event on lap one.

The only way was up for Williams in 2007. The team had secured a major new sponsor in AT&T and has secured Toyota power for Rosberg and Alex Wurz who had been promoted from test driver to race driver.

It would prove to be a building season for the team with Rosberg and Wurz scoring 33 points and finishing fourth in the championship. Rosberg raced hard all season and was a regular points scorer in the second half of the season and secured a strong fourth position at the season finale in Brazil. While Wurz struggled on his return to competition - especially in qualifying - he did record the team's only podium position of the season in the chaotic Canadian Grand Prix. It was not enough for the Austrian through who was replaced for the season finale by Toyota protégé Kazuki Nakajima.

The jury is still out on Nakajima, but Rosberg remains with the team for the 2008 season. Rosberg is no longer a rookie driver and will be expected to lead the team forward as they aim to return to its winning ways of the past.