Williams FW33

[allstaruk08]

I am guessing the new gear box gave them a lot of trouble.

why did it?

[gilgen]

I am guessing the new gear box gave them a lot of trouble.

why did it?

Because it was extremely low, and drive shafts came out at a considerable angle, far in excess of what was the norm. This put increased stresses on the u/js and gearbox.

[scarbs]

Stuff I've been told from my contacts at Williams

Monocoque construction outdated and over weight
Trouble with aero
In particuar the EBD which Williams were slow to develop and handicapped by the lack of complex blown mappings from Cosworth. Williams invested their own cash to have these. The late season floor was much better.
The Cosworth lacked drivability and was fuel thirsty too

No mention of any gearbox issues


Although Sam Michael has gone, so too has Jon Tomlinson and Patrick Head has shifted his attnetion away from the F1 team. I'm told many people that might have been normally considered for the Williams TD job, were not selected as the team want a new engineerign structure. I.E. not one tied to the people and stlye of the outgoing management. Coughlan altho not without his critics is a hard working, pragmatic and innovative engineer. Mark Gillan brings a scientific approach to engineering. Leaving only Jason Somerville as a William returnee, albeit via the very different environment of Toyota and Renault.

[dren]

Stuff I've been told from my contacts at Williams

Monocoque construction outdated and over weight
Trouble with aero
In particuar the EBD which Williams were slow to develop and handicapped by the lack of complex blown mappings from Cosworth. Williams invested their own cash to have these. The late season floor was much better.
The Cosworth lacked drivability and was fuel thirsty too

No mention of any gearbox issues


Although Sam Michael has gone, so too has Jon Tomlinson and Patrick Head has shifted his attnetion away from the F1 team. I'm told many people that might have been normally considered for the Williams TD job, were not selected as the team want a new engineerign structure. I.E. not one tied to the people and stlye of the outgoing management. Coughlan altho not without his critics is a hard working, pragmatic and innovative engineer. Mark Gillan brings a scientific approach to engineering. Leaving only Jason Somerville as a William returnee, albeit via the very different environment of Toyota and Renault.

I figured the Cosworth engine wasn't up to snuff. I was guessing the gearbox was a lot of the problem because of the mechanical failures. Sounds like it wasn't.

Were the aero issues due to the new box, or unrelated?

Was the team happy with the new gearbox?

I think Coughlan is a good choice.

[scarbs]

I am guessing the new gear box gave them a lot of trouble.

why did it?

Because it was extremely low, and drive shafts came out at a considerable angle, far in excess of what was the norm. This put increased stresses on the u/js and gearbox.

Albeit one designed by Pankl and Williams, extensively rig tested and designed with precision machining to create a curved channel for the Tri-lobe bearings to slide in. Other teams had similarly low differential height and lacked this driveshaft technology.

[dren]

So the move to Renault power next year will be a big boost for Williams?

The CV joint channel is curved up?

[hardingfv32]

Inner or out race?

Brian

[ringo]

The gearbox failures weren't really related to the geometry or structure.
Something like an oil seal can fail on any gearbox. I wouldn't really criticize the design.
It may return next year mated to the renault engine.
The only weakness i see with it is the width of it. It's a wide gearbox and it's width is occupying a lot of room on top of the center part of the diffuser.

Monocoque heavy you say?

That is interesting. How did they realize this if they don't know the mass of the other teams chassis?
did the new engineers come in an say "hey, this tub if heavy compared to the ones i've built at xxxx if you didn't know".

[scarbs]

Inner or out race?

Brian

Due to the geometry, both ends..

[Holm86]

scarbs : have you heard anything about if they will continue their low gearbox concept into 2012??

[Coefficient]

I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are for Williams in 2012?
Have they hired the right people for the task of trying to return to the top of the grid?
What are the reasons for them having such terrible cars in recent years?
I'm quite surprised that Sam Michaels landed himself a job at McLaren.
I would have thought he's pretty rubbish after Williams results over the last few years.

I believe Sam Michael is highly regarded in the paddock. The problem he faced at Williams was that the team didn't have the money to expand the technical staff so Sam ended up with too much on his plate. He was doing everything from car design to cleaning the loos and cheif cook in the canteen.

He as a much narrower role at Mclaren principally in charge of ensuring the trackside operations co-ordinate properly with MTC to ensure strategy and development opportunities are maximised.

[Coefficient]

The gearbox failures weren't really related to the geometry or structure.
Something like an oil seal can fail on any gearbox. I wouldn't really criticize the design.
It may return next year mated to the renault engine.
The only weakness i see with it is the width of it. It's a wide gearbox and it's width is occupying a lot of room on top of the center part of the diffuser.

Monocoque heavy you say?

That is interesting. How did they realize this if they don't know the mass of the other teams chassis?
did the new engineers come in an say "hey, this tub if heavy compared to the ones i've built at xxxx if you didn't know".

I'm sure there is something in your speculations there. Maybe Coughlan turned up and said "it weighs how much? Jeez, they were lighter than that at Mclaren 4 years ago!"

[aleksandergreat]

The gearbox failures weren't really related to the geometry or structure.
Something like an oil seal can fail on any gearbox. I wouldn't really criticize the design.
It may return next year mated to the renault engine.
The only weakness i see with it is the width of it. It's a wide gearbox and it's width is occupying a lot of room on top of the center part of the diffuser.

Monocoque heavy you say?

That is interesting. How did they realize this if they don't know the mass of the other teams chassis?
did the new engineers come in an say "hey, this tub if heavy compared to the ones i've built at xxxx if you didn't know".

I'm sure there is something in your speculations there. Maybe Coughlan turned up and said "it weighs how much? Jeez, they were lighter than that at Mclaren 4 years ago!"

Ha ha ha!

[boyracer94]

I believe that the low gearbox will make a return next season, as I hear that there were very few issues with it.

[PhillipM]

I think it's probably just a case of the gearbox taking up a lot of time and budget and the aero side lacking in comparison, I'd expect the gearbox to return next year along with much tighter rear packaging to allow the gearbox to be made the most of.