As my book Motor Racing in the 70 `s indicates, 1979 was a very important year for the Williams team. In Silverstone, Clay Regazzoni managed to win a race for the British team for the first time. This was followed by 4 other wins by Alan Jones in the second half of the year. After trying to make the big leagues since 1969, Williams had finally arrived, with a bang. The beginning was auspicious. Fielding a Brabham-Ford for Piers Courage in 1969, Williams actually got two second places in its debut season. Then came the De Tomaso chassis of 1970, Piers` death, and a number of years fielded Marches and proprietary chassis. Williams was often the laughing stock of the field, although a number of talented drivers drove for it during the period, including Pescarolo, Redman, Schenken, Merzario, Pace, Ickx, Laffite. The team was often underfunded, failing to collect from sponsors, then failing to pay drivers, and leased many a seat to Formula 1 hopefuls. The trough came in 1976, when a t