Williams the conqueror

GIANT TO GRAB GLORY AGAIN ALBON BACKS BRIT SLEEPING

- DANIEL MOXON

THREE decades on from the brilliance of Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill, Alex Albon is confident he can lead Williams to glory at Silverstone again.

The team founded by Sir Frank Williams once led the way in Formula One, particularly in the trophy-laden 1990s.

And the Northamptonshire track was their favourite playground, evidenced by six wins in seven years between 1991 and 1997.

There was Nigel Mansell in ‘Red Five’ who dominated the 1992 championship in the same fashion as Max Verstappen.

He won the British Grand Prix that season after taking pole by almost a full two seconds.

Two years later, a young Damon Hill, still reeling from the death of team-mate Ayrton Senna 10 weeks earlier, did what his father Graham never managed and won his home Grand Prix.

Jacques Villeneuve won the race twice for Williams but his 1997 victory remains the team’s most recent at Silverstone, the venue for the team’s first-ever win in 1979 with the late Clay Regazzoni in the cockpit.