Williams 2011 Car Launched

That's an impressive rear end :p

I'm not an aerodynamicist but would it be better bodywork-wise to have that 'void' or is it likely they haven't put on some bodywork specifically to hide how it looks/works for the time being?
 
Since Rubens joined Williams last season, Williams has gone back to my no1 team but in all fairness thats one really interesting development/change in the design with the rear end. Id love to find out if the thinking behind having the rear wing almost completely separate from the rest of the body work and what it brings to the design.

I take it the move away from having covered is something most the teams are progressing towards anyway so im impressed they have jumped ahead there too.

For everyone who forgets, every year they do different liveries over testing till the last one/first gp as they can and its nice (sometimes there's themes and things). This classic one is really nice! But id expect it to be the blue and white of the last 10 or so years...
 
Overlag said:
while i think that will be great for aero, what about rear end rigidity? Surely the flex of the chassis will be greater now, causing a lack of confidence in the drivers?
Click to expand...


Chassis stops about 2ft ahead of the gearbox. ;)

As the engine and gearbox are both rigid loadbearing members, there will be no change, it's just in this case that the gearbox and diff go downwards instead of upwards.
 
Interesting article here:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89239

The minimal bodywork and shrinking is all to do with clearing the path for the air to reach the lower element of the rear wing, which Williams think (due to the banned double decker diffusers) will be a key performance element this year.

I wish them well, it's great to see the last of the properly independent, old fashioned "British Engineering" teams being properly innovative.
 
unKn0wn said:
I like that. One the best IMO
Click to expand...

I agree.

What appears to be a matt black paint job (in the first image), looks nice.

Its a shame that once we start racing proper, it will become a mobile advertising board.

Just for those who don't know much about William or think they are crap: in the early 90s, Williams were the team to be in. Together with Renault, they wrestled the titles away from McLaren (who had one something like 5 titles in successive years) and Honda (who spent in ordinate sums of money trying to beat Renault and give McLaren the most powerful engine in F1). Senna declared on TV that he wanted to drive for Williams, even if it meant he had to waive his salary and drive for free. The top 3 drivers in F1 (Mansell, Senna, Prost), were all vying for a seat at Williams. In successive years, Williams had Mansell, Prost and Senna as their lead drivers. The chief aerodynamicist was some guy called Adrian Newey, who now works for RBR, who apparently did very well last year.

It is a great shame that they are now a team of also-runs. Unlike McLaren, Williams refused to become a more commercial outfit and as a result, McLaren were able to use their commercial (road car) profits and plough them into their racing team. While McLaren grew with the times, Williams stagnated. Fast forward 15 years and you now have McLaren with a much larger budget than Williams, able to hire top class personnel. Williams on the other hand, have been unable to hold onto their best people.
 
sunama said:
I agree.

What appears to be a matt black paint job (in the first image), looks nice.

Its a shame that once we start racing proper, it will become a mobile advertising board.

Just for those who don't know much about William or think they are crap: in the early 90s, Williams were the team to be in. Together with Renault, they wrestled the titles away from McLaren (who had one something like 5 titles in successive years) and Honda (who spent in ordinate sums of money trying to beat Renault and give McLaren the most powerful engine in F1). Senna declared on TV that he wanted to drive for Williams, even if it meant he had to waive his salary and drive for free. The top 3 drivers in F1 (Mansell, Senna, Prost), were all vying for a seat at Williams. In successive years, Williams had Mansell, Prost and Senna as their lead drivers. The chief aerodynamicist was some guy called Adrian Newey, who now works for RBR, who apparently did very well last year.

It is a great shame that they are now a team of also-runs. Unlike McLaren, Williams refused to become a more commercial outfit and as a result, McLaren were able to use their commercial (road car) profits and plough them into their racing team. While McLaren grew with the times, Williams stagnated. Fast forward 15 years and you now have McLaren with a much larger budget than Williams, able to hire top class personnel. Williams on the other hand, have been unable to hold onto their best people.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the history lesson, how come you know bog-all about Lotus? :p
 
sunama said:
...in the early 90s, Williams were the team to be in.
Click to expand...

Quite, that's when I started watching F1 and have been a Williams fan ever since. It'd be great to see them consistently in the top four. They are improving though, in 2008 they were 8th in the constructors championship, 7th in 2009 and 6th in 2010!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom