Hello there! Scott Wilkes here, with my first foray into blogging, and I must say thanks to Mr Jack Sargeant for letting me loose on his fantastic blog.

So, to make a splash on AnF1Blog.com, I thought I would delve into the annulls of Formula One history, to bring you some of the most iconic cars ever.

So with 60 years of history, where to start? How about the car that made me fall in love with the sport from the first moment I set eyes on its gorgeous blue and white chassis.

The Williams FW18.

This was Williams’ chance to banish the demons of the ’94 and ’95 seasons.

The FW18 looked, on paper, like a conventional racer just like the rest of the field. However, there was one thing the other teams didn’t have. Adrian Newey. His sleek areo package gave the FW18 an edge. An edge that would prove almost unbeatable throughout the season. Add to the mix the engineering genius of Patrick Head, and you could see there was a recipe for success.

The FW18 was powered by the same Renault 3.0 Litre v10 engine, pumping out an amazing 750Bhp, that provided the stunning power in the previous season.

Piloted by Williams veteran Damon Hill, a man with something to prove after huge disapointments in ’94 and cruelly in ’95 (but we will gloss over that).

Hill’s partner for the ’96 season would be upcoming star Jacques Villeneuve. Winner of the 1995 CART Championship and the Indy 500, the young Canadian settled right in, claiming pole position for the season opener in Australia.

Villeneuve also claimed the fastest lap in the race, but failed to claim the win. That was claimed by Hill in the the first of six one-two finishes for the season.

The FW18 took the Hill/Villeneuve combo to an amazing 12 wins out of 16 races. It was also super reliable, with only 4 of 7 DNF’s coming from mechanical faliure. This unrivaled reliablity allowed Hill to almost cruise to the Drivers Championship, had it not been for Villeneuve mounting a late title challenge which ended at the final race of the season, the crucible of final race title showdowns, Suzuka, Japan.

Luckily for Hill, Villeneuve had struggled to stay in the points when he needed a win and eventually retired from the race.

Hill won the race,  which also secured the Constructors Championship for Williams, their fourth in five championships.

This winning formula carried on through to the 1997 season, minus Hill. He was dropped for Heinz-Harald Frentzen.

Hill never drove a winning car again.

So there you have it, my first post!

Hope you enjoyed it, and if you are asleep, it’s time to wake up!

See you soon for another blast from the past.

Scott.