Williams FW38 Mercedes

A place to discuss the characteristics of the cars in Formula One, both current as well as historical. Laptimes, driver worshipping and team chatter do not belong here.
Post Reply
LookBackTime
472
Joined: 19 Feb 2013, 20:33

Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Got the header from moderator:

This the official car topic about the 2016 Williams contender, the FW38. This thread will handle more stringent rules:

-Absolutely no livery talk in the car topic. Liveries are by nature topics assigned to the team thread, and should be discussed there. Posts about liveries in the car thread will be removed.

-Discussion about the car's hardware only. No discussion about the laptimes (should be discussed in the testing or race threads). No speculation or rumors towards future features of the car; no speculation about the competitive performance (car beats car B but car C, etc.). Such discussions will be removed as well.

-Discussion about the Power Unit should belong in its respective PU topic. How the car's chassis and bodywork is adapted to it remains in the car thread, but pure features of the PU don't go there. Since this is quite a grey area, we will not remove transgressions on that front, but will move them when appropiate.

That might sound strict and is infact so, but this is done to safeguard the topic quality. We will be very thorough about that this year! If you don't find anything worthwhile to post, please resist the urge and do not post. There is nothing wrong with that and is infact the better option when there's nothing new.



WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING LAUNCHES FW38

19 FEB 2016
The new Williams Mercedes FW38 was unveiled today ahead of the first pre-season test in Barcelona, Spain next week.

For a third successive season the iconic red, white and blue stripes of WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING will be lining up on the Formula One grid, with the team looking to build on a successful 2015 season that resulted in four podiums and a third place finish in the Constructors’ Championship.

Commenting on the new FW38 Sir Frank Williams, Founder and Team Principal, said; “Williams has started to cement our position back amongst the front running teams after finishing third in the Championship in the past two seasons. This has been a great achievement given the resources of those around us. Staying where we are will be a challenge in itself, but we are determined to keep improving because only winning will ever be good enough.

“We have a very stable team going into 2016, with Felipe and Valtteri teaming up for a third successive season. They work well together and both have the ideal blend of speed and consistency. Our technical team has also remained very consistent which will be to our advantage and we have some of the best engineering minds on the grid at our disposal.

“We have a busy couple of weeks of testing coming up to learn more about our package and to refine the car ahead of the first race. We will have to wait until Melbourne to find out exactly where we stand in the pecking order but I’m confident that our hard work over the winter will stand us in good stead.”

Felipe Massa added; “Securing third in the Constructors’ Championship for two consecutive years is a great achievement and one that comes with a lot of expectation - a momentum which I am excited to build on going into the new season. The team at the factory have worked really hard on the new car and we have spent a lot of time understanding where we need to improve. I have a lot of confidence in the team at Williams and I’m looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the FW38 to see how it performs. I’m equally delighted to be teammates with Valtteri for another year. He is a very talented driver who brings a lot to the team.”

Valtteri Bottas, who is about to embark on his fourth season in Formula One with Williams, said: “This is always a really interesting and exciting time of the year because we have a new car and we can’t wait to get it out on track to see how it feels and how fast it is. It’s been a good winter and from what I’ve seen we seem to be headed in a good direction with this car. Testing next week will be our chance to see how our performance has improved since the last race. The development of the FW38 has been all positive in theory, now we just need to see it on track.

“As a team we need to be able to win races, which is what we are always trying to do. I’m sure we have made improvements everywhere as a team, so we’re definitely looking to fight for better results this year. I’d like to thank everyone at the factory for their hard work over the winter in getting the car ready.”

Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal, concluded. “2016 promises to be a very competitive year in Formula One and there will be a number of strong teams who have us in their sights. We are confident that we have made a step forward over the winter and that the FW38 will build on the strengths of the FW37 and address some of its weaknesses. We started design work on the car earlier than normal and hopefully this extra development time will stand us in good stead.

“The car we are launching today is by no means the final product. We are already planning updates for Melbourne and will be pushing for constant improvements over the course of the season. Williams enters 2016 in a strong place. We have a great team of people and over the past two years we have started to regain our competitive edge. Now we need to build on that and take this team back to where we all want it to be.”

The FW38 will take to the track for the first time on 22nd February for eight days of testing that concludes on 4th March. The season officially gets under way at the first race in Melbourne, Australia, on 20th March.

Williams Mercedes FW38 Technical Specification

Chassis construction: Monocoque construction laminated from carbon epoxy and honeycomb surpassing FIA impact and strength requirements
Front suspension: Double wishbone, push-rod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Rear suspension: Double wishbone, pull-rod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Transmission: Williams eight speed seamless sequential semi-automatic shift plus reverse gear, gear selection electro-hydraulically actuated
Clutch: Carbon multi-plate
Dampers: Williams
Wheels: Aptech forged magnesium
Tyres: Pirelli, Fronts: 245/660-13, Rears: 325/660-13
Brake system: AP 6 piston front and 4 piston rear calipers with carbon discs and pads
Steering: Williams power assisted rack and pinion
Fuel system: ATL Kevlar-reinforced rubber bladder
Electronic systems: FIA SECU standard electronic control unit
Cooling system: Aluminium oil, water and gearbox radiators
Cockpit: Six point driver safety harness with 75mm shoulder straps & HANS system, removable anatomically formed carbon fibre seat

Power Unit: Mercedes-Benz PU106C Hybrid , Internal Combustion Engine : Capacity 1.6 litres, Cylinders Six, Bank angle 90, No of valves 24, Max rpm ICE 15,000 rpm, Max fuel flow rate 100 kg/hour (above 10,500 rpm)

Fuel injection: High-pressure direct injection (max 500 bar, one injector/cylinder), Pressure charging Single-stage compressor and exhaust turbine on a common shaft, Max rpm exhaust turbine 125,000 rpm
ERS: Mercedes AMG HPP
Dimensions & weight: Weight: FIA Minimum, Overall length: 5000mm, Overall height: 950mm, Overall width: 1800mm
Last edited by LookBackTime on 19 Feb 2016, 14:42, edited 3 times in total.

stefan_
696
Joined: 04 Feb 2012, 12:43
Location: Bucharest, Romania
Contact:

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Image

Image
"...and there, very much in flames, is Jacques Laffite's Ligier. That's obviously a turbo blaze, and of course, Laffite will be able to see that conflagration in his mirrors... he is coolly parking the car somewhere safe." Murray Walker, San Marino 1985




User avatar
Gridlock
30
Joined: 27 Jan 2012, 04:14

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Still sporting the legality-airbox-mohican I see, and it looks to be bigger than last year (i.e. slimmer bodywork)?
#58

skoop
7
Joined: 04 Feb 2013, 16:46

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

that looks nice.
are there any new Party on the car? i'm at work and can't check out all the Details :(

domh245
30
Joined: 12 Mar 2015, 21:55
Location: Nottingham

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

To me, the most obvious change is to the side of the cockpit, but that was to be expected.

User avatar
djos
113
Joined: 19 May 2006, 06:09
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Contact:

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Car looks nice, shame they weren't a bit more adventurous with the livery tho.
"In downforce we trust"

Raleigh
29
Joined: 29 Jul 2014, 15:36

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Looks like Williams has dropped the short rear bodywork in favour of conventional hot air outlets...

Sidepods are very tight, still got the undercut. Detail refinements to the nose, but appears to be an old front wing from 2015.

Love to get a look at the back of that car, got a feeling that's where the biggest changes are.
Last edited by Raleigh on 19 Feb 2016, 10:28, edited 1 time in total.

Lucky
156
Joined: 15 Feb 2014, 09:23

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Image

User avatar
Rhodium
25
Joined: 28 Jan 2013, 20:52

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

i hope it's just a showcar, because...
i'm not excited for now...


My god, this "thing" still burns my eyes...

Image
Last edited by Rhodium on 19 Feb 2016, 10:34, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Gridlock
30
Joined: 27 Jan 2012, 04:14

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Interesting rear is interesting.

Via Adam Cooper, Mr Symonds;
“It is no secret that the low speed performance of the FW37 didn’t match its high speed performance, so a lot of time was spent looking into why this was and subsequently making changes, which we hope will improve the situation.
https://adamcooperf1.com/2016/02/19/wil ... 16-f1-car/
#58

User avatar
bauc
33
Joined: 19 Jun 2013, 10:03
Location: Skopje, Macedonia
Contact:

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

Looks quite the same like its predecessor, but I guess this is just a testing platform to build on, as always I expect to see major developments at the first race.
Формула 1 на Македонски - The first ever Macedonian Formula 1 YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJkjCv ... 6rVRgKASwg

User avatar
Mark4211
92
Joined: 04 Jan 2014, 12:36
Location: Singapore

Re: Williams FW38 Mercedes

Post

The front wing is pretty much the same..?

I quote my post from last month at the speculation thread
Quoting from this article: http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/new-w ... ey-668620/

"Essentially it's an evolution of [the FW37] design"
"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."
"...what could we do to improve our wet weather performance? That essentially is car set-up, it's how you use the tyres."

So essentially, they are hinting at a possibly a new front wing design (if their budget doesn't hold them back), hoping for more rear downforce and stability (probably preventing the rear wing stall we saw in China, Mexico 2015), and improving in mechanical grip
I was pretty certain that they were going to make significant changes, but still an evolution, but I guess not. Let's wait till testing or Australia...
Last edited by Mark4211 on 19 Feb 2016, 10:35, edited 1 time in total.

Post Reply