Yesterday, the sad news reached us of the passing of Sir Frank Williams at the age of 79. He had been a set fixture in Formula 1 for over five decades fielding some of the most successful Grand Prix cars of all time. More impressive even was his triumph over adversity following his near fatal car crash in 1986. Despite requiring constant care, Williams continued to work as team principal and with him at the helm, Williams became particularly dominant during the mid-1990s. Although he stepped down as principal in 2012, he remained involved until the family sold the team in 2020. His commitment to and passion for Formula 1 have been unrelenting, and ensure that he will be remembered as one of the sport's true greats.
As a small tribute to Sir Frank Williams, we have today taken a look at two cars that have been pivotal in his Formula 1 career. The most recent is the FW19 Renault of 1997. Driven by Jacques Villeneuve, this Adrian Newey designed Williams remains the last to win either World Championship. In our image gallery we feature two examples, including chassis FW19-04, which was used by Villeneuve during the bulk of his World Championship winning effort. Frank Williams debuted in Formula 1 during the 1969 season as a private entrant fielding a Brabham BT26 for Piers Courage. To mark the 50th anniversary of that debut a sister chassis, BT26-4 was fitted in 2019 with a replica body painted in the colours used by Williams and Courage during the 1969 season. In this guise, it was demonstrated at the 2019 Goodwood Festival of Speed. An interesting car in its own right, BT26-4 was raced in period to victory in the German Grand Prix by Jacky Ickx and subsequently also scored two podium finishes in the hands of Jack Brabham himself.

Enjoy the links:

1969 Brabham BT26 Cosworth (BT26-4)

1997 Williams FW19 Renault