Frank Williams established the team in 1977 in Didcot, Oxfordshire, after his previous operation, Frank Williams Racing Cars, was rebranded as Wolf–Williams Racing and eventually became Walter Wolf Racing. Recruiting Patrick Head to create the Williams–Head partnership, the team produced its first car, the FW06, for the 1978 season.
The team's first victory arrived at the 1979 British Grand Prix with Clay Regazzoni. This success was followed by a period for the FW07 ground-effect car, which allowed Alan Jones to win four races in 1979. In 1980, Williams secured its first Constructors' Championship, scoring 120 points—nearly double that of runner-up Ligier. Alan Jones became the team's first Drivers' Champion that same year.
Williams won its first two Constructors' titles (1980, 1981) using Ford-Cosworth engines. Following a transition to Honda power, the team returned to the top of the standings in 1986. Despite Nigel Mansell suffering a tyre failure in the final race, Williams won the 1986 Constructors' title. They defended this title in 1987, with Nelson Piquet winning the Drivers' Championship with 73 points.
The partnership with Renault, beginning in 1989, resulted in five Constructors' Championships (1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, and 1997).
1992: Nigel Mansell won the title, setting a new record for the most wins by a single driver in one year with nine victories, and the team scored 164 points, 65 more than McLaren.
1993: Alain Prost won the Drivers' title in the FW15C, a car featuring active suspension and traction control systems.
1994: Despite the fatal accident of Ayrton Senna at Imola, Williams secured the Constructors' title for the third consecutive year.
1996–1997: Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve won consecutive Drivers' titles. In 1996, Hill clinched the championship with a win in the season finale at Suzuka. In 1997, Villeneuve won seven races and the Drivers' Championship by three points. His main rival, Michael Schumacher, was disqualified from second place in the championship after a collision between the two at the final round in Jerez was deemed "avoidable" by the FIA.
Williams was part of a group of five teams (including Ferrari, McLaren, Benetton, and Renault) that won every Constructors' Championship between 1979 and 2008. Jacques Villeneuve scored the team's 100th victory at the 1997 British Grand Prix.
Following Renault's departure at the end of 1997, the team utilized Mecachrome (1998) and Supertec (1999) engines, which were rebadged versions of previous Renault units. During this period, the team's performance declined, finishing third in 1998 and fifth in 1999.
A partnership with BMW (2000–2005) saw the team return to the front of the grid, finishing as runners-up in the Constructors' Championship in 2002 and 2003. In qualifying for the 2002 Italian Grand Prix, Juan Pablo Montoya lapped his Williams FW24 at an average speed of 161.449 mph (259.827 km/h), breaking a speed record set in 1985. However, the relationship deteriorated, leading BMW Motorsport to buy Sauber and rebrand that team to feature the BMW name.
In the hybrid era, Williams saw an initial resurgence with Mercedes power units, finishing third in the Constructors' Championship in 2014 and 2015. This was followed by a significant decline; the team finished last in the standings in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Following financial difficulties, the team was sold to Dorilton Capital in August 2020, ending the Williams family's 43-year leadership. Under the leadership of Jost Capito, Williams finished 8th in the 2021 Constructors' Championship. James Vowles took over as Team Principal in 2023. In February 2025, the team announced a record multi-year title sponsorship with Atlassian, rebranding as Atlassian Williams Racing for the 2025 season and Atlassian Williams F1 Team from the 2026 season onwards.