After a brilliant season in 1969, with a Brabham-Ford driven by Piers Courage (two second places), Frank Williams embarked into what seemed to be an eternal career as a back-marker in Formula 1. In fact in the next season, not even Piers Courage's brilliance could make the De Tomaso-Ford competitive, and other great drivers, Brian Redman and Tim Schenken also failed to make the car fast, after Piers' untimely death. In 1971 and 1972, Frank fielded Marches, experimenting with the first Williams designed car in 1972, the Politoys. In spite of having good drivers, such as Henri Pescarolo and Jose Carlos Pace, Williams' cars were mostly back-markers. Having attained sponsorship from Iso-Rivolta and Marlboro, in 1973, Frank fielded upgraded versions of the Politoys, then a revamped car, which still used bits and pieces from the original Williams. In spite of the theoretically good sponsorship deal, the Iso-Marlboros were again back-markers, and got two points in the champi