[wF1th] Williams first to show off 2015 F1 car

[wF1th] Williams first to show off 2015 F1 car Jan 21, 2015 7:55:39 GMT -6

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Post by n7thGear™ on Jan 21, 2015 7:55:39 GMT -6

Williams first to show off 2015 F1 car

Williams Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas of Finland drives during the qualifying session of the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi November 22, 2014.

Credit: Reuters/Caren Firouz

Williams claimed a first on Wednesday by revealing their 2015 car before any of their Formula One rivals had taken the wraps off theirs.

With Force India due to show off their new livery at a Wpresentation in Mexico City later, Williams released images of the Mercedes-powered FW37 through their website and the cover of F1 Racing magazine.

Last year's car lifted Williams out of the doldrums to third in the championship and the 2015 version has been reshaped to meet new nose regulations designed to rid the sport of the previous 'ugly' solutions.

Williams chief technical officer Pat Symonds recognised that had posed a 'slight headache' for the designers, with the Williams featuring a shorter nose.

"The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated and the effect on the aero was profound," he said in a statement.

"The team have worked hard on pulling back the deficit these regulations have made for us."

Williams finished ahead of Ferrari and McLaren last season, the first year of the new V6 turbo hybrid era, and behind only dominant champions Mercedes and Red Bull.

The Mercedes-powered car, which remains in the beautiful Martini livery, features a much shorter nose, and more refined aerodynamics, than its predecessor.

The Grove outfit was the surprise of last season, bursting up the ranks from ninth in 2013 to third in 2014, and now singled out by Toto Wolff as perhaps Mercedes’ greatest threat.

“One of our ambitions is to win races and then to build on the progress that we’ve made and to get closer to the frontrunners, close that gap and one day fight for another world championship,” said deputy boss Claire Williams.

For comparison’s sake, here’s a look at the FW36, which brought Williams back to life last year with a third-place showing in the constructor’s championship:

With no major changes to the regulations this year, former champions Williams are hoping to challenge for wins and the title with Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finland's Valtteri Bottas but recognised others could close the gap on them.

"The more rule stability there is, the closer the field gets. I hope as a team we are more capable of maintaining the forward momentum to catch Mercedes, than the teams behind us are of catching us," said Symonds.

"It’s not just about stable regulations but also about the team and every individual that works here moving forward and improving."

The season starts in Australia on March 15, with the first pre-season test in Jerez on Feb 1.

Williams:

The notion for the FW37 was to look closely at the FW36 and its performances,’ says WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds. ‘We then went about recognising what had worked well and identifying and resolving the areas that we felt needed to be improved. Although the aerodynamics of the car were impressive there is always room for improvement particularly as we handle the new 2015 nose regulations ’

The design of the FW37 has stemmed from the performance of the FW36 but the conceptual ideas came long before the 2014 successes.

‘The first conceptual stage of the FW37 came before the FW36 had turned a wheel. The main element to this is understanding the rule changes and how they will affect the design of the car, from here we can start see if our ideas will fit within the regulations.’

The performance of the FW36 in 2014 saw the team move forward from ninth in the Constructors’ Championship to third, obtaining nine podiums throughout the season and a front row lockout at the Austrian Grand Prix.

‘The desire to beat Ferrari to third place in the Constructors’ in 2014 meant we pushed our development through to late autumn, but the size of the team is now at a point where it was able to sustain this development whilst still working on the FW37.’

With the regulations relatively stable from 2014 the team went about developing the FW36 with the additional changes necessary to meet the 2015 rules.

‘We felt we came up against design barriers in the FW36 and so took the opportunity to remove those barriers for the benefit of the performance. The FW36 carried a reasonable amount of ballast, so we were able to make alterations to the design for added performance without the fear of adding excessive mass.’

The layout phase of the car was completed by the summer break in August, with work on the new front bulkhead a main priority for the designers and aerodynamicists as the changes to the regulations had their effects on the car.

‘The change in regulations offered us a slight headache. The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated and the effect on the aero was profound. The team have worked hard on pulling back the deficit these regulations have made for us.’

After a strong 2014 the team has aims to continue improving in pursuit of podium finishes throughout the 2015 season.

‘The more rule stability there is, the closer the field gets. I hope as a team we are more capable of maintaining the forward momentum to catch Mercedes, than the teams behind us are of catching us. It’s not just about stable regulations but also about the team and every individual that works here moving forward and improving.’

Frank Williams, Team Principal concluded ‘The team had a fantastic season last year, we are aiming to replicate this development over the winter and to start the 2015 season in a strong position. We have an enormously talented group of people here at Williams who want nothing more than the team to do well. This passion produced a great turn around in fortunes for the team in 2014 and everybody has worked tirelessly to continue that climb up the grid.’

‘We have added a few more high profile names to accompany the incredibly supportive group of partners we have,’ Frank Williams added. ‘After a very strong first year with Mercedes we are looking to further develop the relationship as we look for more podiums in 2015. I feel this year will be equally as exciting as the last and look forward to seeing the car on the grid at the first race.’

Williams says 2015 Formula 1 car nose rule change has big effect

Williams has admitted that Formula 1's new nose regulations for 2015 had a bigger effect than expected on the design of its new FW37 contender.

The team's new car follows on from the FW36 that turned Williams back into a frontrunner last year.

The nose design is one of the most obvious differences from the 2014 machine, and Williams chief technical officer Pat Symonds said the changes to the regulations governing the front of the cars played a big part in the design process.

"The change in regulations offered us a slight headache," he said.

"The new front bulkhead and nose geometry had much more of an impact than we had initially anticipated and the effect on the aero was profound.

"Although the aerodynamics of the [2014] car were impressive there is always room for improvement, particularly as we handle the new 2015 nose regulations.

"The team have worked hard on pulling back the deficit these regulations have made for us."

Symonds added that while last year's car was very competitive in the hands of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, Williams has worked hard to identify its areas of weakness and improve on them for 2015.
2015 Williams

"The notion for the FW37 was to look closely at the FW36 and its performances," he said.

"We then went about recognising what had worked well and identifying and resolving the areas that we felt needed to be improved.

"We felt we came up against design barriers in the FW36 and so took the opportunity to remove those barriers for the benefit of the performance.

"The FW36 carried a reasonable amount of ballast, so we were able to make alterations to the design for added performance without the fear of adding excessive mass."

2014 DEVELOPMENT PUSH

Williams's strong form last year meant that the team continued developing the 2014 car until late in the season, but Symonds is adamant that it will not fall behind at the start of this season as a result.

"The desire to beat Ferrari to third place in the constructors' championship in 2014 meant we pushed our development through to late autumn," he said.

"But the size of the team is now at a point where it was able to sustain this development while still working on the FW37."

Team principal Frank Williams stated that the main aim for this year is simply for the team to keep moving up the grid.

"After a very strong first year with Mercedes engines we are looking to further develop the relationship as we look for more podiums in 2015," said Williams.

"The team had a fantastic season last year, we are aiming to replicate this development over the winter and to start the 2015 season in a strong position.

"We have an enormously talented group of people here at Williams who produced a great turnaround in fortunes in 2014 and everybody has worked tirelessly to continue that climb up the grid."

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Post by n7thGear™ on Jan 21, 2015 7:55:39 GMT -6

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