Williams Rebuilds Champion Car 30 Years After Historic Win

When Damon Hill climbed back into the Williams FW18 race car at Goodwood last month, three decades of memories came flooding back all at once.

The Williams Heritage team had spent five months painstakingly restoring the exact chassis Hill drove to four Grand Prix victories during his remarkable 1996 championship season. That year, Williams dominated Formula 1 like few teams ever have, claiming 12 wins and 12 pole positions from just 16 races.

For Heritage Director Jonathan Kennard, a self-described "massive Damon fan," the project meant everything. The team stripped the car down to bare metal, removing even the original paint to start fresh.

"We took it back to the bare chassis and rebuilt it with some of the original guys that worked on it in '96," Kennard explains. The team could reference original engineering notes from the Williams archive whenever questions arose about the 1996 design.

The FW18 wasn't just any race car. Designed by legendary engineers Patrick Head and Adrian Newey, it helped Hill achieve what seemed impossible after his controversial 1994 title defeat. He followed in his late father Graham's footsteps, becoming a World Champion at the Japanese Grand Prix finale.

Hill's connection to the machine runs deep. "Although I don't own one, I definitely regard it as my car," the 65-year-old says. "It's a bespoke car for my dimensions, and everything was in the perfect spot."

Why This Inspires

The weekend brought together more than just a driver and his championship car. Original mechanics who supported Hill during that golden season reunited with their champion, the camaraderie between them still electric after 30 years.

Ian Mellor, one of those trusted crew members, laughs remembering Hill's reaction to seeing the restored car. The mechanic and his team had checked and serviced every component over five months, from hydraulics to suspension, ensuring the Renault V10-powered machine would roar back to life.

When Hill finally drove up Goodwood's famous hill, the emotions overwhelmed him. "Going up the hill, when you open it up, you realise it was a pretty frisky little thing," he says. "It really goes and it really works."

The driver's gratitude remains as strong as ever. "The mechanics looked after me during that championship year, and they made sure everything worked," Hill reflects. "I'm very, very grateful to them, and it's great to see some of them still here helping me."

For Williams, these Heritage projects represent more than nostalgia—they're living connections to the people and moments that defined the team's greatest achievements.