Competition vehicle Unregistered

Chassis no. 03 RS9 engine no. 1259

- The 1997 World Championship-winning car

- Driven by HH Frentzen at the 1997 Brazilian Grand Prix

- Jacques Villeneuve's reserve car at numerous Grand Prix races

- The last Williams designed under the direction of Adrian Newey

- In the Renault Collection since 1998, stunning original condition

 

Jerez, 26 October 1997, the final Grand Prix of the season. The battle for the world title was raging between Michael Schumacher, in his Ferrari F310B, and Jacques Villeneuve, driving a Williams-Renault FW19. With 20 laps to go, the German driver made a mistake in an unsuccessful attempt to stop Villeneuve getting by as the Canadian overtook him in a perfectly above-board manner. But justice prevailed: Schumacher ended up in the gravel and Villeneuve made sure of third place. He was the World Champion! It was the fourth Drivers’ title in six years for Williams, in partnership with Renault, and its fifth (ninth constructors championship for Williams) Constructors’ trophy. The previous year, Williams had already dominated the season with its FW18, starting on pole on 12 occasions and winning 12 of the 16 Grands Prix. The FW18 secured Damon Hill’s first place in the World Drivers’ Championship, ahead of the fiery Villeneuve, for whom it was the first season with the British team.

 

The FW18 was an outstanding car and it was logical to use it as the basis for the next model, the FW19. Which was just what Adrian Newey did: the chief engineer for the constructor since 1991, it would be the last Williams he would work on, as he moved to McLaren for the 1997 season. His design work was continued by Geoff Willis, a specialist in aerodynamics, who focused on streamlining the car and its driving dynamics. Another expert applied his mind to the subframe of the new single-seater: with 20 years’ experience in Formula 1, Patrick Head made a valuable contribution. The FW19 chassis was fitted with the Renault RS9 engine: again overseen by Bernard Dudot at Viry-Châtillon, it improved further on its predecessor, with a wider ‘V’ angle to lower the centre of gravity, a weight reduction of 11kg and a maximum engine speed 600rpm higher ... As far as the drivers were concerned, Frank Williams confirmed Villeneuve’s place in the team, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen replaced Hill, who had left to join Arrows.

 

With big-name designers like these, one of the best engines on the grid and top-class drivers, it was only to be expected that the car would perform outstandingly well from the first Grand Prix of the season. On 9 March in Australia, Villeneuve and Frentzen duly found themselves on the front row after posting the two best times in qualifying, although the race did not go as planned, with the Canadian driver retiring after a collision. In Brazil, Villeneuve again started on pole, ahead of Schumacher; this time, he took his revenge and was first over the line. The rest of the season saw the fierce battle between Villeneuve and Schumacher continue, the two drivers winning nearly all the races and leaving only a few crumbs for their opponents. Of the 17 Grands Prix of the season, Schumacher won five and Villeneuve seven, giving the Canadian a total of 81 points in the Championship and his German rival 78, ahead of Frentzen in third place with a total of 42 points.

You can judge a victory by the quality of your opponents, and knowing Schumacher’s talent and his determination to win, it was obvious that the Williams-Renault FW19 was the best car on the grid in 1997, especially in the hands of a spirited driver like Villeneuve.

For Renault’s V10 engine, this resounding success was a magnificent epilogue, as it bowed out of Formula 1 after nine triumphant years. Its career nonetheless continued, notably with Williams and badged as Mecachrome, its longstanding partner.

 

The car we are presenting is one of the seven FW19 chassis built by Williams for the 1997 season. As such, this Championship-winning F1 car is exceptional in terms of its history, but its amazing condition should also be stressed. The car officially joined the Renault Collection on 1 October 1998. It was the subject of an agreement between Williams and Renault for the latter to acquire a single-seater race car at the end of the 1997 season. Since then, it has been carefully looked after and rarely put on display. The car appears well preserved and complete; it is equipped with its suspension system, running gear, electrical wiring and electronic control units, as well as its radiators. The inside of the bucket seat is embossed with the initials ‘JV’ and the car is also in Jacques Villeneuve’s colours, with his racing number 3. The car has a special visual treatment with no mention of any tobacco brand, which was applied at the time to respect the new sponsorship regulations in motorsport. As Laurent Debailleul, in charge of Alpine F1 Engine Heritage, confirmed, the engine installed in the car was mainly used for private testing, between May and September 1997, with chassis no. FW19-06, driven by Frentzen and Bouillon, notably at Magny-Cours, Silverstone and Monza.

Thanks to the assistance of the director of Williams F1's Heritage department, we were able to confirm the exceptional track record of this car, which competed in one Grand Prix with Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Brazilian Grand Prix, finishing ninth.

The car was first used in pre-season testing. HH Frentzen and J. Villeneuve drove it at the Magny Cours track from 24 to 26 February 1997. Chassis 03 was also used as the Jacques Villeneuve T Car at the Australian, Monaco, German, Japanese and crucially at the Championship deciding round in Jerez.

 

It then took part in winter testing in December 1997, driven by Max Wilson and a certain Juan Pablo Montoya, who was still a Formula 3000 driver but would become Williams' iconic driver in 2001.

 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance for a collector to purchase a world championship Formula 1 car that competed in a Grand Prix and served as the reserve car during the decisive Grand Prix in Jerez for the season's world champion, directly from Renault, at a time when Williams was the top team and when Renault supplied its outstanding engine for its very last year.