Williams FW33

[mx_tifoso]

...

Holy mother of optical illusions; that image gives the perception of the right drive shaft being bent, but it's just the reflection from the endplate.

[volarchico]

The drive shaft actually looks a bit asymmetric!?

[horse]

It depends how well it works, on their implementation, and how much that actually affects their aero. RBR's rear end is very different from Williams' nonexistent rear end configuration. Also I don't think we can actually use tenths to quantify upgrades. Most teams do, but it's rubbish IMO. I mean, something that gains you 0.5s at Monza probably wouldn't gain you 0.5s in Suzuka. Considering different corners, different straight lengths, different lap lenghs etc

You see I think it could well be a significant step for them. Targeted use of the exhaust gases seems to be all the rage this year and look what effect is had on the McLaren! Obviously, each car is different, but I would say there should be particular benefits for the Williams design as the exhausts a) won't mess up the Gurney operation and b) do some "blowing" around the sides of the diffuser. The system is literally a 2 x win.

I don't know, I could be wrong. McLaren didn't do a good job with the blown floor on first attempt last year, but to me this system seems more simple to implement with some fairly obvious gains.

[raymondu999]

I wasn't intending to say it wouldn't work. CHT was asking if the new exhaust system would be worth 0.5s, and I was just saying there would be no way of knowing/quantifying (for us) how much faster it was

[Hangaku]

Interesting, Sam Michael said that Williams suffered a double "transmission" failure at the Melbourne Gran Prix. Taken from GPUpdate:

Neither FW33 finished the season-opening Australian Grand Prix. What caused the retirements of Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado?

We had transmission failures on both the cars this weekend. We had a failure on Pastor’s car early on in the race, with Rubens retiring on Lap 48. We are still currently investigating both problems.

Rubens had a gearbox oil leak during final practice on Saturday morning. Did this contribute to his retirement in the race?

No, it was unrelated. The issue we had on Saturday was with the rear gearbox oil seal that caused a leak.

Ruh roh. Is their tiny gearbox causing problems?

[nacho]

Maybe its fragile when crashing to other cars, though I am not sure Maldonado with anyone.

[bar555]

Williams titanic efforts to make its new breed of very low gearbox work reminds me the efforts of Stewart team back in 1998 with its innovative carbon casting gearbox . All innovations take time to mature and work so i myself am optimistic that Williams will finally succeed .

[ringo]

It depends how well it works, on their implementation, and how much that actually affects their aero. RBR's rear end is very different from Williams' nonexistent rear end configuration. Also I don't think we can actually use tenths to quantify upgrades. Most teams do, but it's rubbish IMO. I mean, something that gains you 0.5s at Monza probably wouldn't gain you 0.5s in Suzuka. Considering different corners, different straight lengths, different lap lenghs etc

You see I think it could well be a significant step for them. Targeted use of the exhaust gases seems to be all the rage this year and look what effect is had on the McLaren! Obviously, each car is different, but I would say there should be particular benefits for the Williams design as the exhausts a) won't mess up the Gurney operation and b) do some "blowing" around the sides of the diffuser. The system is literally a 2 x win.

I don't know, I could be wrong. McLaren didn't do a good job with the blown floor on first attempt last year, but to me this system seems more simple to implement with some fairly obvious gains.

The difference in the cars is overrated and overstated.

What works for the goose works for the gander. The regulations alone are so restricive if one takes the the time to read them and try build a car, the car will shape out almost exactly like the other 12 cars on the grid.
Mclaren took 10 days to copy and implement and Williams will do the same.
Copying works and is very effective.

Parts can be slapped on and get instant results especially this exhuast system.
It's a very straight forward principle.

"We started work on that system after Valencia. The first time we saw it was when Red Bull Racing ran it on the last day – and we've copied the idea.

We tried out a Renault version and a Mercedes-Benz version, but it is the Red Bull Racing one we have committed to."

Hmm, wonder why they didn't go with the renault idea? probably takes too long to implement.

Whatever the case, i think this car should be on the podium with the new exhuast.
It was going pretty well without doing much setup work in P3.
Rubens was moving up the grid until he crashed into rosberg. The car has pretty good pace. Wont be surprised if it battles with the ferrari and mclaren now and then.

[horse]

Hmm, wonder why they didn't go with the renault idea? probably takes too long to implement..

We had the change the exhaust system quite a bit because of the way the collector is packaged. With us it is packaged backwards. If you had a forward collector and a U-bend, it would be easy to change it to the Red Bull idea.

I can imagine that if it is hard to make an RBR type exhaust due to the collector packaging then it must be very hard to make an FEE. I'm not sure the Renault system has yet shown enough advantage for it to be worth the effort, particularly if the sidepods need bloating. I reckon that would compromise the design advantage of the wee-box.

I hope it does make a difference for them. Can't help but have a soft spot for the 80s blue cars.

[Formula None]

From testing, but too good not to post...

[xDama]

Too bad it's not in high-res. I can't say it enough, this car is an absolute beauty!

[allstaruk08]

wow cool picture just tried making it my computer background but was all pixelated

[Formula None]

[raymondu999]

I think that livery looked miles better than the current Rothmans-like solution

[CyleB]

^agreed^