Gallery: Alan Jones’ Williams FW07

Up close and personal with the light, nimble, ground-effects toting monster which took Alan Jones to four wins from five races. The Williams FW07. It wasn’t the first ground-effects toting machine to race in Formula One, but it certainly wasn’t far behind. Hot off the heels of Colin Chapman’s Lotus 78 came the Patrick Head designed Williams FW07. Lotus 79-drawn inspiration could be seen throughout the Williams FW07 design, however the Williams was its own machine. The car was driving in 1979 by Alan Jones (pictured), and Clay Regazzoni. Immediately competitive, the Ford Cosworth DFV powered FW07 was driven to victory by Regazzoni at the ’79 British Grand Prix. Soon after, Alan Jones drove the FW07 to an incredible three straight victories, and four out of five races. These were the 1979 German, Austrian and Dutch Grand Prix, followed up by the Canadian GP soon after. The streak was enough to land Jones third place overall in the 1979 season. Small and extremely light, the FW07 had proven itself to be a real contender in 1979. As the 1980 season loomed, Williams set about improving upon it. The result was the Williams FW07B, which was driving in the 1980 season by a returning Alan Jones, as well as Carlos Reutemann. Regazzoni had returned to race with Ensign in 1980 – it would be his final year in Formula One. The ever talented Alan Jones managed to drive the FW07B to five wins spread throughout the 1980 season, backed by five other podiums and a win in Monaco by Reutemann. The year saw Jones take his one and only world title. All thanks to the 2.993 litre, 485hp (362kW), 10750 rpm, 585kg FW07B. What an awesome machine!