Before the start of the 1976 season, Canadian oil magnate Walter Wolf was introduced to Frank Williams by Gian Piero Dallara, an Italian car manufacturer who had previously worked with Williams in 1970. At that time, the British team owner had commissioned Dallara to build the "De Tomaso 505" for the 1970 Formula 1 World Championship. Constantly seeking financial backers, Frank Williams agreed to sell 60% of Frank Williams Racing Cars to the Canadian magnate. The team was subsequently renamed and registered for the 1976 World Championship as Wolf-Williams Racing.
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| WOLF-WILLIAMS FW05, Michel Leclère Jarama, Spanish GP 1976 |
Initially, Wolf, who had collaborated with Lamborghini on the development of the Countach, planned to involve the Italian company from Sant'Agata Bolognese in building a single-seater with its own engine. However, opposition from the majority of the Italian manufacturer's shareholders led to the project's cancellation. Despite keeping the new team's headquarters at Frank Williams Racing Cars' facility in Reading, Berkshire, Wolf persuaded Williams to abandon the idea of developing his own car. Instead, they acquired an already available model on the market, the Hesketh 308C, from the struggling Hesketh team, which was on the verge of shutting down. Along with the new 308C cars, Wolf also purchased Hesketh's entire structure, including its staff and technical personnel. Among them was Harvey Postlethwaite, who became Technical Director, effectively sidelining Patrick Head. Frank Williams, however, was retained as Team Manager. Wolf also acquired technical materials from the disbanded Embassy-Hill team, which had ceased operations following the tragic plane crash that claimed the life of its founder, Graham Hill, on November 29, 1975.
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| WOLF-WILLIAMS FW05, Jacky Ickx Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1976 |
The single-seater was renamed Wolf-Williams FW05, but it remained essentially a Hesketh 308C. It featured a very wide and thin nose with a full-width overhanging wing, broad and low side pods with main radiators in front of the rear wheels, and a long engine cover incorporating air intakes on either side of the cockpit. It retained Postlethwaite's signature inboard rubber suspension operated by rocker arms, as well as the original chassis from the first Hesketh 308, which had only been slightly revised and updated. The car was powered by the Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine, which was an integral part of the chassis.
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| WOLF-WILLIAMS FW05, Arturo Merzario Monza, Italian GP 1976 |
At the beginning of the 1976 season, only one FW05 was prepared, driven by veteran Belgian driver Jacky Ickx, while the team's second driver, Italian Renzo Zorzi, used the older FW04. The Anglo-Canadian team's debut was relatively decent, with Ickx finishing eighth and Zorzi ninth. However, from the next race onward, the lineup changed, with Zorzi being replaced by French driver Michel Leclère. By the second race of the season, two FW05 cars were available, but results remained poor. This led Walter Wolf to significantly cut back his financial investment, which had been considerable up to that point. Development on the car was frozen, and both drivers were dismissed. The season continued with just one FW05, entrusted to Italian driver Arturo Merzario, who was financially backed by Marlboro, covering his entire salary. In the remaining seven races, Merzario never reached the finish line, falling victim to the mechanical fragility of the outdated and poorly maintained car.
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| WOLF-WILLIAMS FW05, Hans Binder Fuji, Japanese GP 1976 |
For the final two races of the championship, the team fielded a second FW05 again, with Australian Warwick Brown driving at Watkins Glen and Austrian Hans Binder at Fuji. The 1976 season ended without any points, and at the end of the year, Wolf removed Frank Williams from his role as Team Manager, replacing him with former Lotus executive Peter Warr. Disillusioned, Frank Williams decided to leave the Wolf-Williams project, selling his remaining 40% stake to the Canadian magnate, who renamed the team Walter Wolf Racing. Williams then started over from scratch, relocating to Didcot, Oxfordshire, to rebuild his own team. He brought back Patrick Head as Technical Director, forming the Williams-Head partnership, which would go on to create one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 history.
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