Formula 1: When did Williams last score a point?

It had been quite some time since Williams last scored a point in Formula 1, and even when that happened, it was due to a technicality.

Following back-to-back finishes of third place in the Formula 1 constructor standings in 2014 and 2015, Williams recorded back-to-back finishes of fifth in 2016 and 2017.

But after that, it had been a downward spiral for the Grove-based team, which have finished in 10th (last) in three consecutive seasons since then.

However, the team entered the 2021 season with more promise than any of the last three seasons.

A lot of that had to do with the fact that Haas, which have finished just ahead of them in ninth place in each of the last two seasons, have become the sport’s new backmarker.

So Williams, simply by recording a top 10 finish here and there, could finish in ninth place.

With that being said, it was never going to be easy for either one of their two drivers, George Russell or Nicholas Latifi, to do, given just how long it has been since the team found themselves without zeroes in the points category.

The team did not score any points throughout the 17-race 2020 season, although both Latifi and Russell finished in 11th place at various points throughout the year, a major step forward from 2019 with Russell and Robert Kubica.

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Latifi finished in 11th place in the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, the Italian Grand Prix at Autodromo Nazionale di Monza and the Emilian Romagna Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari. Russell finished in 11th in the Tuscan Grand Prix at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello.

In 2019, they did manage to score one point, but it was due to a technicality. At no point throughout the 21-race season did Kubica or Russell ever actually manage to take the checkered flag in a position higher than 12th, with each doing so once: Kubica in the German Grand Prix at the Hockenheimring and Russell in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

However, Kubica was officially classified in 10th place ahead of Russell in 11th in the German Grand Prix after Alfa Romeo teammates Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi were penalized from seventh and eighth and dropped to 12th and 13th, respectively, for their use of driver aids at the start.

Prior to that, Williams hadn’t scored a point since the 2018 Italian Grand Prix, when Lance Stroll finished in ninth place ahead of Sergey Sirotkin in 10th.

While they would have scored anyway, that result was also aided by a penalty to another driver, as Haas’ Romain Grosjean was disqualified from sixth due to an illegal floor. Stroll originally finished in 10th ahead of Sirotkin in 11th.

Before that, they hadn’t scored since Stroll’s eighth place finish in the 2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku City Circuit.

So entering Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring, Williams had scored just one point in the last 55 races, and that one point came due to a penalty issued another team. They had scored just four points in the last 65 races, yet they would have only scored one of them of without any penalties.

But they finally broke through in this race.

As a result of a chaotic first lap, Latifi and Russell both found themselves in position to score points, and both maintained those positions throughout the entire 70-lap race around the 14-turn, 2.722-mile (4.381-kilometer) road course in Mogyoród, Hungary.

Latifi scored four points with a career-high eighth place finish, and Russell scored two with a ninth place effort.

So Williams now actually sit in eighth place, not ninth, in the constructor standings, as their six points were enough to not only break their scoreless tie with Haas but move them ahead of Alfa Romeo as well.

The 2021 season is now in its summer break, and action is scheduled to resume on Sunday, August 29 with the Belgian Grand Prix at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. This race is set to be broadcast live on ESPN beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET.