Williams retained Damon Hill for 1996, who helped to develop the FW18, and the car seemed to respond well to his smooth driving style, while his new teammate, Formula One rookie Jacques Villeneuve, also quickly adapted to the FW18. The car was extremely reliable, as FW18s completed 1778 laps of a possible 2028, more than any other car that season. The car responded well to set-up changes and was competitive on all types of circuits, with at least one Williams driver on the podium for every race, excluding the Monaco and Italian Grands Prix.

The FW18's dominance was also due in part to the recent personnel changes at rival teams. Benetton (running the B196s of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi for 1996), which had previously bested Williams in the past two seasons, had lost Michael Schumacher and several key technical people to Ferrari. However, the Ferrari F310s that Schumacher and Eddie Irvine had at their disposal were unreliable and it would not be until 1997 that they could challenge for the Constructors' title.