Frank Williams founded Williams in 1977 after his previous team, Frank Williams Racing Cars, failed to achieve the success he desired. Despite the promise of a new owner, Canadian millionaire Walter Wolf, the team became Wolf–Williams Racing in 1976. Williams subsequently left Walter Wolf Racing to rebuild his team as Williams Grand Prix Engineering, recruiting Patrick Head to form the Williams–Head partnership. The team's first race was the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix, where the new team ran a March chassis for Patrick Nève. Williams started manufacturing its own cars the following year.
The sale to Dorilton Capital followed years of financial difficulties for Williams. In December 2017, Sir Frank Williams owned 51.3% of the company, with 24.1% publicly traded, Brad Hollinger owning 11.7%, Patrick Head 9.3%, and 3.6% held by an employee trust fund. In May 2020, Williams was put up for sale after reporting a £13 million loss in the previous year. This financial performance also led to the termination of the contract with title sponsor ROKiT in May 2020. In November 2009, founders Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head sold a minority stake in the team to an investment company led by Toto Wolff .
On August 21, 2020, Dorilton Capital acquired Williams. Claire Williams announced her departure from the team on September 6, 2020, with the 2020 Italian Grand Prix being her last time in her respective positions. Simon Roberts, who joined Williams from McLaren in May 2020, became the acting team principal. In December 2020, Jost Capito joined Williams as the new CEO, with Roberts reporting to Capito as team principal.
The 2020 season, disrupted and shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, saw Williams fail to score a single point.
During the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix, Williams scored their first points since the 2019 German Grand Prix and their first double points finish since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix. George Russell qualified 2nd at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix and scored Williams's first podium since the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Latifi finishing 9th. Russell continued to score points at the Italian and Russian Grands Prix. Williams finished 8th in the Constructors' Championship with 23 points in 2021.
For the 2022 season, Russell moved to Mercedes, and Alex Albon was signed as his replacement, with Latifi retaining his spot. Albon scored the team's first points of the season at the Australian Grand Prix and again at the Miami Grand Prix. Latifi achieved his first Q3 appearance at the British Grand Prix. Nyck de Vries replaced Albon at the Italian Grand Prix due to illness and scored points on his debut, finishing ninth.
Preceding the 2023 season, James Vowles was announced as the new Team Principal. Williams also announced a long-term partnership with Gulf Oil. Albon's contract was extended, and rookie Logan Sargeant joined as his partner. Sargeant scored his first point at the 2023 United States Grand Prix. Albon and Sargeant were retained for the 2024 season, though Sargeant was released after the Dutch Grand Prix and replaced by Franco Colapinto for the remainder of the season.
In February 2025, Williams announced a multi-year title sponsorship with Atlassian, entering the 2025 season as Atlassian Williams Racing. Carlos Sainz Jr., a new signee, scored Williams's first podium since 2021 at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and their first sprint race podium at the United States Grand Prix. The team announced a rebranding to Atlassian Williams F1 Team from the 2026 season onwards.
During the 2021 Monaco Grand Prix, Williams celebrated their 750th Grand Prix start .