The Williams Racing story is one of Formula 1’s most celebrated, with 16 world titles, 114 grand prix race victories and 313 podiums.
Its double-world championship 1993 season, featuring one of F1’s greatest technical marvels in the FW15C, with a virtuoso performance from eventual champion Alain Prost and crucial supporting role from newcomer Damon Hill, is seen by many as Williams at its peak.
That glorious year was overseen by one of racing’s all-time dynamic duos, late founder Sir Frank Williams and technical director Sir Patrick Head – with a not-insignificant contribution from chief designer Adrian Newey also.
Opening the second series of Motor Sport’s Engineering the Greats podcasts, produced in association with Scalextric, Head pulls back the curtain on the fascinating story of that year.
The legendary F1 car designer describes how serendipity allowed the British team to secure Newey – then hot property as a brilliant young engineering mind – why Frank Williams didn’t want to put Hill in a race seat due to not being “exotic enough” and how the ’93 car could have had even more technical tricks on it, were it not for its team boss being outmanoeuvred in a classic FIA showdown.
Head also compares that ’93 year with other crucial moments in Williams’ history, describing how he came to join the team while working in a London shipyard, how its formidable active suspension was developed, and why its early 2000s BMW partnership could have been its most successful era.
Engineering The Greats Series 2 is brought to you in association with Scalextric
Listeners can claim 10% off all Scalextric products by visiting www.scalextric.com and using the discount code RACE10 at Checkout.
This offer is valid until September 30 2023 and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers. A full list of terms and conditions is available on the Scalextric website
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