The partnership with Renault from 1989 onwards
Frank was aware that to win in the new era of Formula One, with everyone now running normally aspirated engines, backing was needed from a major motor manufacturer. This ambition was realised in July 1988 when the team signed a three-year deal with Renault for the supply of their new V10 engines. The initial deal was for exclusivity only for 1989, but at the Canadian Grand Prix that year Renault announced that again in 1990 and subsequently 1991 also, the team would be the sole recipients of the engine.

Technical Director, Patrick Head designed the FW13 chassis specifically to house the new Renault engine and Belgian driver, Thierry Boutsen, joined the team in 1989, replacing Nigel Mansell and partnering Riccardo Patrese.

1990 got off to a good start with Boutsen third in his FW13B in Phoenix and then, at the third race of the year, the San Marino Grand Prix, there was a fairytale story with Patrese winning his third Grand Prix; his previous victory had been seven years earlier. Boutsen's turn came in Hungary where he claimed his first ever pole position and went on to win an impressive green light to chequered flag victory. These two wins and several other podium placings meant at the end of the season the team finished fourth in the Constructors' World Championship

Mansell returns and breaks records
Halfway through the 1990 season Nigel Mansell, who subsequently won 28 Grands Prix, announced his retirement after a disappointing British Grand Prix whilst driving for Ferrari. Frank Williams persuaded him to change his mind and he re-signed for the team for whom he would win more Grands Prix than any other driver. Mansell had his first taste of the FW13B at the Estoril track on 20 November 1990, and then eagerly awaited the completion of the new FW14, the latest offering from Patrick Head (who by now also had Adrian Newey on his design team) with a brand new Renault RS3 engine and a semi-automatic gearbox

The 1991 Canon backed team proved a winning combination, with Mansell scoring five and Patrese two victories. The team proved the only real competition to McLaren and were runners-up to them in both the Constructors' and Drivers' World Championships, with Mansell and Patrese second and third respectively in the latter.

The tide turned in 1992. At the first race in South Africa, Mansell and Patrese finished first and second with the FW14B fitted with active suspension. This chassis remains today as probably the most sophisticated racing car ever built.

And so began a winning streak for Mansell, who became the first driver to win the opening five races of a season. His record breaking did not stop there and he became the first driver to win nine races in one season and to be on pole 14 times.

When Mansell came second in Hungary he clinched the Drivers' World Championship, the first British driver to do so since James Hunt in 1976. In Belgium, WilliamsF1 and Renault took the Constructors' title, the first ever for Renault, and to end the winning year Patrese finished runner-up to Mansell for the Drivers' crown.

The fifth Constructors' title with Prost and Hill
For 1993 it was all change in the driver line-up, with French three-time World Champion, Alain Prost, and official test driver, Damon Hill, taking over from Mansell and Patrese. They carried on where Mansell and Patrese left off, retaining the Constructors' title, while Prost clinched his fourth drivers' title and Hill won his first Grand Prix in Hungary. Soon after clinching the title Prost decided to make the '93 season his last in competitive racing, leaving the door open for three-times World Champion, Ayrton Senna, to join the team. So the 1994 championship battle started with the new look Rothmans Williams Renault team and drivers, Ayrton Senna and Damon Hill, ably supported by new official test driver, David Coulthard

Imola 1994
During the third Grand Prix of the year at Imola in Italy, Ayrton Senna was killed while leading the race when his car left the circuit at the notorious Tamburello corner and crashed into a concrete wall. The world of motor racing was stunned and the close-knit Team was shattered by the tragic death of the driver who many people regarded as simply the best.

The fight back of the team typified the bravery and leadership of Frank. As a mark of respect only one car was entered for the next race in Monaco and then four weeks after that tragic day in Imola, Hill won the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona and promptly dedicated his victory to both Ayrton and the team.

For this race Hill was partnered by David Coulthard, who drove car No. 2 for eight of the remaining races. For the other four races in France, Spain, Japan and Australia, Nigel Mansell came back from the USA, where he was racing in the Indy Car series. After the win in Barcelona, Hill scored another five victories but lost the championship by a single point to Michael Schumacher following a controversial collision at the last race in Adelaide, which was eventually won by Mansell. In such a tragic year it was testimony to the strength of the team that they retained the Constructors' World Championship, to close a season that will never be forgotten

For 1995 it was Hill and Coulthard who drove for the team and between them notched up five victories in the FW17, with the young Scot taking his first Grand Prix win in Portugal. Hill was the only driver to challenge Schumacher for the drivers' title, but had to accept defeat when the German won the title for the second year at the Pacific Grand Prix in Aida. Although losing both titles was a disappointment, Hill made sure the team went out on a high with a fine win at the last race in Adelaide.