After a ten-year absence from Formula One, BMW began evaluating a return to the sport in the late 1990s.
In 1998, the marque signed a contract to supply the Williams team with engines.
Williams had won the 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1997 Drivers' Championships, and the Constructors' Championships in all of these years as well as 1994, in a successful partnership with Renault, but the French company withdrew from the sport at the end of 1997, leaving team owner Frank Williams and Technical Director Patrick Head in need of a new engine partnership to remain competitive.
As BMW spent 18 months building and testing a normally aspirated, three-litre V10 engine to comply with technical regulations that had changed significantly since the 1980s, the team used old Renault engines rebadged as first Mecachrome and then Supertec.

BMW's E41 engine was ready to compete in the 2000 season, fitted in the FW22 and driven by Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button.
Schumacher scored a podium finish in the engine's first race, and added two more during the course of the season.
A series of consistent points-scoring finishes meant that Williams finished a competitive third in the Constructors' Championship, some distance behind the dominant Ferrari and McLaren teams, but ahead of engine manufacturers with more recent experience.

After the relatively conservative E41, BMW designed the more aggressive P80 engine for 2001, a basic type number that was maintained for the remainder of the company's involvement in Formula One.
The engine immediately proved to have a significant power improvement, and propelled Schumacher and new teammate Juan Pablo Montoya into contention for race victories.
In all, the two drivers scored four race wins, but lost other opportunities through unreliability and racing incidents.
The FW23 chassis also lacked the ultimate downforce to compete with the Ferrari and McLaren drivers at every circuit, although it was the class of the field at "power circuits" such as Hockenheim and Monza.

For 2002, the reliability and consistency of the FW24 chassis was much improved, but Ferrari made a more significant step forward with its own F2002 chassis and dominated both championships.
The team scored twelve more points than in the previous year and beat McLaren to second place in the Constructors' Championship, but only won a single race with Schumacher at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Moreover, Montoya was unable to win a single race, despite taking seven pole positions.

The Williams team was more competitive in 2003, as both drivers won on two occasions and Montoya remained in contention for the Drivers' Championship until the penultimate race of the season.
However, he ultimately fell short, as did the team in the Constructors' Championship, as although the FW25 was often the car to beat in the second half of the season, it took too much time to reach this point.

For 2004, the team produced the FW26 chassis, which featured a radical nose section designed by Antonia Terzi.
This design proved ineffective, however, in another year of Ferrari dominance, and Williams slipped to fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with Montoya's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix its sole win in the 2004 season.
Before this result, the team had suffered the embarrassment of a double disqualification from the Canadian Grand Prix due to brake duct irregularities, and then Schumacher sustaining spinal injuries as a result of a high-speed crash at the United States Grand Prix, which caused him to miss six races until he recovered.
Both drivers left the team at the end of the season.

The final year of BMW's association with Williams, 2005, saw the team's decline in competitiveness continue, dropping to fifth in the Constructors' Championship.
None of the team's three drivers—Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld and Antônio Pizzonia—were able to win a race; the team's best result was a double podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix.
By this time, the team's relationship with its engine supplier had deteriorated, with BMW believing that its engines were capable of winning cham
After a ten-year absence from Formula One, BMW began evaluating a return to the sport in the late 1990s. In 1998, the marque signed a contract to supply the Williams team with engines. Williams had won the 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1997 Drivers' Championships, and the Constructors' Championships in all of these years as well as 1994, in a successful partnership with Renault, but the French company withdrew from the sport at the end of 1997, leaving team owner Frank Williams and Technical Director Patrick Head in need of a new engine partnership to remain competitive. As BMW spent 18 months building and testing a normally aspirated, three-litre V10 engine to comply with technical regulations that had changed significantly since the 1980s, the team used old Renault engines rebadged as first Mecachrome and then Supertec.
BMW's E41 engine was ready to compete in the 2000 season, fitted in the FW22 and driven by Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. Schumacher scored a podium finish in the engine's first race, and added two more during the course of the season. A series of consistent points-scoring finishes meant that Williams finished a competitive third in the Constructors' Championship, some distance behind the dominant Ferrari and McLaren teams, but ahead of engine manufacturers with more recent experience.
After the relatively conservative E41, BMW designed the more aggressive P80 engine for 2001, a basic type number that was maintained for the remainder of the company's involvement in Formula One. The engine immediately proved to have a significant power improvement, and propelled Schumacher and new teammate Juan Pablo Montoya into contention for race victories. In all, the two drivers scored four race wins, but lost other opportunities through unreliability and racing incidents. The FW23 chassis also lacked the ultimate downforce to compete with the Ferrari and McLaren drivers at every circuit, although it was the class of the field at "power circuits" such as Hockenheim and Monza.
For 2002, the reliability and consistency of the FW24 chassis was much improved, but Ferrari made a more significant step forward with its own F2002 chassis and dominated both championships. The team scored twelve more points than in the previous year and beat McLaren to second place in the Constructors' Championship, but only won a single race with Schumacher at the Malaysian Grand Prix. Moreover, Montoya was unable to win a single race, despite taking seven pole positions.
The Williams team was more competitive in 2003, as both drivers won on two occasions and Montoya remained in contention for the Drivers' Championship until the penultimate race of the season. However, he ultimately fell short, as did the team in the Constructors' Championship, as although the FW25 was often the car to beat in the second half of the season, it took too much time to reach this point.
For 2004, the team produced the FW26 chassis, which featured a radical nose section designed by Antonia Terzi. This design proved ineffective, however, in another year of Ferrari dominance, and Williams slipped to fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with Montoya's victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix its sole win in the 2004 season. Before this result, the team had suffered the embarrassment of a double disqualification from the Canadian Grand Prix due to brake duct irregularities, and then Schumacher sustaining spinal injuries as a result of a high-speed crash at the United States Grand Prix, which caused him to miss six races until he recovered. Both drivers left the team at the end of the season.
The final year of BMW's association with Williams, 2005, saw the team's decline in competitiveness continue, dropping to fifth in the Constructors' Championship. None of the team's three drivers—Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld and Antônio Pizzonia—were able to win a race; the team's best result was a double podium finish at the Monaco Grand Prix. By this time, the team's relationship with its engine supplier had deteriorated, with BMW believing that its engines were capable of winning cham
BMW in Formula One