529 replies to this topic

[Gilles4Ever]

Petr Hlawiczka @hlawiczka

#F1 #Williams #FW38 to be "significantly different," new parts working good in wind tunnel f1news.autoroad.cz/novinky/75312-…

 

[WilliamsF1Fan]

Looks small... F1 drivers are getting tinier by the day...

 

 

 

I know, it is a scale model 

 

Hopefully it is a faster car given that the team stopped developing the FW37 so early this season just passed.  Aero is an area that the team has struggled on for years so not convinced (sadly) that there will be a massive step up.  

 

Pictures like that though just help build up my excitement for the launch of the new cars!  

[TheRacingElf]

Just hope this isn't going to be a McLaren 2013 disaster

[Marklar]

Im very pessimistic, maybe thats a good sign

[muramasa]

that rearend looks like Mp4-30's and some recent RBR

sidepods defo much slimmer than the past 2 years FWs

cooling outlet moved to that center zone maybe because of that 2 exhausts rule

if that's what actual FW38 will look like 

[RedBaron]

Looks small... F1 drivers are getting tinier by the day...

 

 

That's Massa's car.

[Marklar]

Na Felipe junior is replacing his dad obviously

[WilliamsF1Fan]

Na Felipe junior is replacing his dad obviously

 

[prty]

 

Is that Massa's real race suit? If so, it is not that big of a fit for his son
 

[Dan333SP]

 

Petr Hlawiczka @hlawiczka

#F1 #Williams #FW38 to be "significantly different," new parts working good in wind tunnel f1news.autoroad.cz/novinky/75312-…

 

 

 

How do they make the parts for these scale models for wind tunnel work? 3d printed plastics, or are they carbon parts like the real car made in the same way but on a smaller scale, which seems unnecessarily pricey? I'd imagine plastic vs. carbon would have marginally different properties as far as surface interaction with the airflow, but I'm sure the teams have thought of that.

[MustangSally]

Just hope this isn't going to be a McLaren 2013 disaster

 

Interesting that Ron Dennis said McLaren should have reverted to the 2012 car.

 

Williams 2012 car was OK too.

[tomazy]

This photo is not of FW38, but of a car much older. If you look closely at the car, you will see that it has a huge doble difuser and push rod susspention. This car is a FW32, its mid seson update to be more precise with introduction of blown difuser and F-duct. I did not find a good picture of back of the car in this confuguration, but here is a pic of the car from the other angle.

 

[DutchQuicksilver]

Agreed, not sure if this a good step by Williams, changing the car so much. Finishing third in the coming years is good enough for them. They should just focus on what they have, I mean Monaco is just one race in a 21 race calendar where they'll be bad. There's some 20 more races where they'll be good.

[Marklar]

Wait. We are the first with a car thread for 2016? Is it a good or bad sign?

[paulogman]

If they only evolve the current design, they will get beat by at least red bull, the new lotus team, and force India.
They have no down force, any time aero was more prominent that power williams struggled.
So, take the risk.

[Francesc]

They needed to do a new brand design in order to adress some weaknesses that have been lasting for some seasons and for which they think they've finally found a solution. So an evolution was never an option.

[tomazy]

Williams probably came to the end of the road when it comes to this car designe. FW37 was an evolution of FW36, and the second evolution does not make sence when the first one didn't bring them closer to the front. So the only option they had to be more compatitive was to designe something diffirent, but the last time they did that was FW33 with the low gearbox, and it was a dissaster. I hope that the bold decision to not go evolutio rute will pay of this time.

 

Time will tell, cant wait to see it, I wonder if it will be on the cower of F1 Racing magazine again.

 

[WilliamsF1Fan]

I think we were lucky this season really, our car wasn't great but we let it be slippery again so that on fast tracks we were hard to overtake.  Hopefully we get a more balanced car so that we don't get the peaks and troughs we seem prone to.

Here is Autosport showing a breakdown of our points scoring this season:

 

 

Noticeable that we score really well on tracks that are quite fast (Barcelona aside, but that is an odd track).  Any luck our aero guys will finally get the hang of making a car with good downforce that is still fast on a straight.  Force India made a big step up, so why can't we do something similar?  

[Wes350]

Well, they have to try something...

 

Right about now they should be sending gift baskets to all the Renault execs for keeping RedBull behind them.

 

The car actually lost pace to the Mercs this year - they were just not as close to them on certain tracks like they were last year.

 

But we must keep in mind that they are operating with a little less than half the budget or the "big" teams; Merc, RB, Ferrari, McLaren.

 

So at best, they'll get another 3rd WCC next year.

 

But maybe they can gamble a little on the design and get back what they lost to Mercedes, and hopefully enough extra to keep Ferrari honest.

 

And just maybe - maybe, have enough to put themselves in a position to steal a race win or two.

 

But that's all wishes and fishes until we see how they run in Australia.

 

In all honesty, I think that either McLaren or Bed Bull, or both, will make it a very tough scrap to get 3rd WCC three years running.

[HamiltonFanboy]

I am thankful that they are not going for a simple evolution. The current car is flawed. It seems to have hit the end of its evolutionary path sometime early this season. They haven't made a step from 2014 and they certainly haven't kept up with Mercedes or Ferrari in development terms. Sure, an evolution of the FW37 would probably be enough for another safe 3rd or 4th in the constructors but I am happy to see that the team want more than that. Mechanical grip needs to be the main focus. You cant compete for consistent podiums if the car is dreadful in the wet, slow corners and on street tracks. 

[Volcano70]

We'll have to wait and see

[FPV GTHO]

The car actually lost pace to the Mercs this year - they were just not as close to them on certain tracks like they were last year.

Most teams fell away from Mercedes this year. Only Red Bull, McLaren, Force India and Manor got closer and they all had slow starts so it's only natural.

[ViMaMo]

With that Mercedes engine, nothing much can change.

[teejay]

Hope they are really competitive. Good for F1. 

[RainyAfterlifeDaylight]

Apart from capable facilities and personnel in Williams, when there is a person called Pat Symonds in the team, Williams could have another solid season in 2016. In terms of finance, Williams are in a reasonable shape and another solid performance in 2016, could make them ready to be alittle bit more radical for 2017 regulation changes.

[Marklar]

Williams hitting 2016 F1 aero targets says Rob Smedley

"But everything we are seeing at the minute is good, we are hitting targets.

"The car we have in the windtunnel for 2016 and the 2015 car we have now are significantly different so we couldn't do anything from an aerodynamic point of view.

http://m.autosport.c...t.php/id/122195

[Marklar]

AMuS: Williams plans similar short nose like Mercedes. The AOA of the rear is also expected to be bigger in 2016.

http://www.auto-moto...s-10344382.html

Edited by Marklar, 05 January 2016 - 21:00.

[Vettelari]

This might come off as a silly comment... Instead of trying to compete on high downforce tracks, in today's F1 would it be possible for a team like Williams to go all out for speed while designing their car? In other words, could they design a car that'll be at the back of the field in Monaco, but be an absolute MONSTER at low downforce tracks like Spa, Monza, & Suzuka? I'm sure it isn't very realistic, but I would rather build a car that struggles to make Q3 at most tracks while being the class of the field at the few tracks where downforce isn't as big of a factor. Winning 2 races on merit seems more appealing to me than consistently battling for 4th place with close to 0% chance of winning like we saw Williams do last year.

[Marklar]

You need everywhere downforce (maybe not that much in Monza), so concentrate on that (low DF) would you perhaps bring a victory in Monza, but on every other circuit you will struggle to get points. So you are ending the season with lets say 60 pts on P7 and you lose 20 m from the prize money...

Edited by Marklar, 06 January 2016 - 04:58.

[Hans V]

Maybe 2016 is the year Williams discovers downforce? Finger crossed! Symonds said in the Motorsport Magazine season review podcast that they worked on a very short nose and that the crash test was a major challenge. He also said that the car would be quite different despite not looking particularly different to the casual fan.

[ed24f1]

This might come off as a silly comment... Instead of trying to compete on high downforce tracks, in today's F1 would it be possible for a team like Williams to go all out for speed while designing their car? In other words, could they design a car that'll be at the back of the field in Monaco, but be an absolute MONSTER at low downforce tracks like Spa, Monza, & Suzuka? I'm sure it isn't very realistic, but I would rather build a car that struggles to make Q3 at most tracks while being the class of the field at the few tracks where downforce isn't as big of a factor. Winning 2 races on merit seems more appealing to me than consistently battling for 4th place with close to 0% chance of winning like we saw Williams do last year.

They already are almost at the back of the field at Monaco!

[WilliamsF1Fan]

Down...Force?  What is this dark magic of which you are all speaking.  Williams does not engage in such wizardry, especially not after having lost evil mage 'Adrian Newey'!  

[Marklar]

They also dont engage with the dark magic of pitstops and strategies...

[WilliamsF1Fan]

They also dont engage with the dark magic of pitstops and strategies...

 

That's borderline Satanic.  

[Okyo]

It's gonna be a risky and important attempt to step forward. Last car was an evolution from our previous successful car. Now it seems like the team is trying to go somewhere new which is always risky, especially for a team that doesn't have the resources for a new plan B car. 

Hope the team gets it right.

Go team Willy! 

Edited by Okyo, 06 January 2016 - 11:21.

[Vettelari]

Down...Force? What is this dark magic of which you are all speaking. Williams does not engage in such wizardry, especially not after having lost evil mage 'Adrian Newey'!

HAHAHA! Thank you for that...

[Marklar]

Smedley says the 2016 Williams will be an evolution of last year's car, but that's the "biggest evolution I've seen in a time of stable regulations".

He kinda avoid the wet weather question, though...

[Gasp]

He kinda avoid the wet weather question, though...

Here he tells the same mantra in the new article... Anyway this part sounds nice;

You're going to see some quite interesting developments around the front wing area and underneath the chassis.

"There are some really interesting developments around the back end of the car that you're going to see as well.

"The guys in the wind tunnel in particular have done an absolutely stellar job, and we're really pleased. We're finding new methodologies, new ways to develop the car, and they're all bearing fruit at the minute.

http://www.motorspor...smedley-668620/
 

[sopa]

The link was in another thread, but it suits better here.

Good for a laugh though.

 

http://www.skysports...gines-for-honda

[Marklar]

Sutil leaves

http://www.motorspor...side-f1-668938/

[Marklar]

The link was in another thread, but it suits better here.
Good for a laugh though.
 
http://www.skysports...gines-for-honda

It is quite sad that this guy is allowed to call himself a pundit...

[WilliamsF1Fan]

Sutil leaves

http://www.motorspor...side-f1-668938/

 

Can't say I'll miss him particularly since he was hardly involved and never drove a car even in testing, let alone in anger!  Good luck for the future though to him.

[PayasYouRace]

It is quite sad that this guy is allowed to call himself a pundit...

If you read the article you can see what he's getting at. I don't see why it deserves the laughs. It's a valid point. It's always hard to beat a works team with their own engine. It's the same reason McLaren went for Honda.

You can see why someone would reason that beating McLaren with the same engine would be easier than beating a works team. You just have to make sure your engine is good enough. As for the last time Williams and McLaren had the same engine, Williams came out on top

[GoldenColt]

If you read the article you can see what he's getting at. I don't see why it deserves the laughs. It's a valid point. It's always hard to beat a works team with their own engine. It's the same reason McLaren went for Honda.

You can see why someone would reason that beating McLaren with the same engine would be easier than beating a works team. You just have to make sure your engine is good enough. As for the last time Williams and McLaren had the same engine, Williams came out on top

 

Sure, you can see it like that. If you completely ignore that beating McLaren with the same engine in the current state of the Honda PU would probably mean finishing 8th in the constructors, while being beaten by the Mercedes works team in the current form of the Mercedes PU means P3 at worst. 

[Marklar]

If you read the article you can see what he's getting at. I don't see why it deserves the laughs. It's a valid point. It's always hard to beat a works team with their own engine. It's the same reason McLaren went for Honda.

You can see why someone would reason that beating McLaren with the same engine would be easier than beating a works team. You just have to make sure your engine is good enough. As for the last time Williams and McLaren had the same engine, Williams came out on top

These engines have a complexity which gives the works team (or in McLarens case the premium team) a big advantage. Unlike what we saw in the past.

McLaren has a works team status. Eventhough I dont know if they have the same advantage as Mercedes; because Honda is in Japan and McLaren in the UK and they are two different companies after all.

Edited by Marklar, 20 January 2016 - 18:06.

[SpeedRacer`]

If you read the article you can see what he's getting at. I don't see why it deserves the laughs. It's a valid point. It's always hard to beat a works team with their own engine. It's the same reason McLaren went for Honda.

You can see why someone would reason that beating McLaren with the same engine would be easier than beating a works team. You just have to make sure your engine is good enough. As for the last time Williams and McLaren had the same engine, Williams came out on top

 

But if you're going to be a customer, surely you want to be a customer of the best engine, not the worst?! I could understand Hill's point if there was a works engine on offer.

 

I believe Williams also have a "preferential" customer deal with Merc, which is better than FI & Manor's deal.

[PayasYouRace]

I don't actually agree with Damon, I just didn't thing his suggestion was as laughable as some here suggested.

[Exb]

Williams have signed Gary Paffett as their simulator driver. Sounds like good move for them.

 

http://www.williamsf...ordriverfor2016

Edited by Exb, 02 February 2016 - 10:47.

[WilliamsF1Fan]

It's an odd one and would have made more sense a few years ago when he still had McLaren experience fresh in his mind.  That said I'm quite pleased as I've always had something of a random liking for Paffett.  It would be nice to see him get some driving time as well although his title in the team suggests that is about as likely as me getting any time in the car!  

[WilliamsF1Fan]

Just noticed on Facebook that the team have fired up the FW38 for the first time 

 

 

Williams Martini Racing

1 min · 

The Williams Martini Racing FW38 fired up for the first time yesterday with no problems.

It's great to hear the engine roar again after a quiet winter, and now it's less than three weeks until testing begins. The countdown is on!