There was a time when victory in the British Grand Prix was almost exclusively the private plaything of the Williams team.
Between 1991 and 1997, they were triumphant in six of seven races, with drivers of the ilk of Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, all world champions, winning in the team’s car.
Yet there has been no success at Silverstone for Williams since Villeneuve crossed the line first in 1997, and that is unlikely to change on Sunday, but the British outfit can go into the weekend with considerably more confidence than in recent years.
Two weeks ago in Austria, the team locked up the front row in qualifying for the first time in 11 years when Felipe Massa took pole position ahead of teammate Valtteri Bottas.
Though they could not replicate that form in the race at the Red Bull Ring – they were unable to keep up with the dominant Mercedes-GP cars – Bottas and Massa earned a combined 27 constructors’ championship points by finishing third and fourth, respectively. It marked the first time since the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix that Williams had both their drivers in the top four.
To give an indication of their dramatic step forward in performance this year, the 85 points they have scored in the opening eight races is only one less than they notched over the past three seasons combined.
It has been a rough decade for the Williams team, with only one victory since 2005, when Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix.
It has been a considerable fall from grace for the team, established by Sir Frank Williams in 1977, which won nine constructors’ titles and nine drivers’ championships in their time in Formula One.
The rise of the manufacturer teams and not having a major engine partner, as well as a fall in funds due to a lack of sponsorship at key times, has hurt one of F1’s last few remaining independent teams.
Last year was a particularly rough season, with just five points amassed in 19 races, so the change in fortunes has been remarkable.
Put simply, a good engine, an aerodynamically strong car and better drivers have led to the transformation.
In a 2014 season dominated by new engine regulations, having a Mercedes in the back of your car has been a must for teams hoping to challenge, given the power advantage, thus making the timing of the move by Williams to swap Renault for Mercedes at the end of last year even more inspired.
The FW36 chassis, overseen design-wise by Pat Symonds, the team’s technical officer, has been arguably their most consistent in 10 years, but it has been well-used by both Massa and Bottas.
There were glimpses of Bottas’s promise during a noncompetitive 2013, when his third place on the grid in mixed conditions in Canada was one of the qualifying performances of the season.
Massa, fresh from eight years at Ferrari, has been a considerable improvement on the inconsistent and Maldonado and has proven a good foil for Bottas.
The only surprise is that it has taken until last month for the strong points finishes to come their way, as they have clearly had the pace to be fighting for best of the rest, behind Mercedes, since the season started in Australia in March.
Wet qualifying sessions in Melbourne and Malaysia meant they started further back on the grid than their speed deserved, losing them optimum race performance.
An ill-timed safety-car period in Bahrain wrecked a strong points finish, so the signs were there that the car was quick, even if the results were not.
But Massa became the first driver to lead a race other than a Mercedes driver in Canada, and then he led early on in Austria, while Bottas pushed Nico Rosberg hard in the middle stint of the race before falling away.
He had the consolation of achieving his first podium in F1, and the Finn’s consistency hints and raw pace hints at even bigger things to come.
It has been no coincidence that the past two tracks, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and the Red Bull Ring, have played to the strengths of teams with strong straight-line speed.
Williams are one of four Mercedes-powered teams, along with Mercedes, Force India and McLaren, and they seem to have found a set-up that makes the car quick on the straights.
Mercedes were faster in Austria, but they could not get near Williams on the longer straights, and needed good pit-stop strategy to leapfrog them to gain the all important track position.
Silverstone’s layout should play to their strengths and give them a chance of fighting for another podium finish.
The rest of the summer could be very fruitful, with the races in Germany, Belgium and Italy likely to reward those who are very rapid on the straights.
It is important that Williams capitalise on what could be a bonanza year, given the high financial rewards that are on offer.
The prize money awarded to F1 teams, though the sums are not widely publicised, drops a little for each position from first place, so finishing as high as possible, especially for a team with one of the smaller budgets on the grid, has to be an imperative.
Williams are currently fifth, and with 11 races to go, there is no reason why they cannot aim for second place at the end of the season, being 58 points behind current incumbents of the spot, Red Bull Racing.
Red Bull have probably the most aerodynamically impressive car on the grid, but the faltering Renault engine means all the speed they make in the corners is lost on the resulting straights.
Williams have a quick package, and with F1’s other big names, Ferrari and McLaren-Mercedes, both mired in mediocrity this year, they have a great opportunity, starting this weekend, to establish themselves as the second-fastest team in the sport this year.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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