Williams FW40 Mercedes

[roon]

Couple of things going on in that sequence. The sidepod is casting a shadow upon itself and the floor, and the floor radius is reflecting a limb of light through it. It's a coincidence of light—a reflection positioned perfectly within a shadow. Look at how the shape changes.





I don't think it's a fin. The floor is continuous, but sloping up toward the center of the car to accommodate the big leading edge radius.

[SR71]

After looking at this image I'm believe the optical illusion is the difference in specular nature between the floor and the blended surface between floor and sidepod.

Williams has rendered the car with a ultra matte floor, perhaps not even black. The blended surface between the blue lines is black rendered with a satin finish and the highlights are evidence.

I've drawn a rough section line (red) that I believe shows the actual surface, or close.

[LookBackTime]

Tech F1i: A closer look at the Williams FW40
By Nicolas Carpentiers, 20/02/2017 at 12:40

Williams continued its recent tradition of unveiling its new Formula 1 car first by releasing a video of its 2017-spec FW40 last Friday. Although the rendered images only offer a glimpse into Grove’s latest challenger, Nicolas Carpentiers takes a closer look at its main features.

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... iams_FW40/

A GENERAL OVERVIEW



Williams might have undercut all other Formula 1 teams in taking the wraps off its new car first, the Grove-based outfit’s rendering of its FW40 (in celebration of the team’s 40 years of racing) outlined the main characteristics of 2017-spec chargers without giving away too much either.

This year sees the introduction of wider and lower cars fitted with bigger tyres, though the rendered images prevent any in-depth comparison. Although the car’s increased girth is evident, its sidepod width remains below the maximum authorised breadth. However, the floor, which has gained 200mm compared to last year’s model, highlights the stretched frame of the car.

The rationale behind keeping the sidepods narrow and as undercut as possible is to offset the surge in drag coming from Pirelli’s 25% wider tyres, with thread dimensions increasing from 245mm to 305mm at the front and from 325mm to 405mm at the rear.

A 12.5-DEGREE BACK SWEEP



Let’s start studying Williams’ latest challenger by focussing on its front end. The front wing span has gained 150mm, going from 1650mm to 1800mm, and sports a swept-back design with an angle of 12.5° between the tip of the wing and the endplates.

The outer section of the Williams front wing has kept the arched installation aimed at creating a vortex to drive away the dirty wake coming off the wider front tyres. The overall concept bears a lot of similarities with the final design trialled by Williams in 2016.

The British team introduced an experimental front wing in Austin last year, which featured an extra pair of fences. The rendered images of the FW40 do not include these areo elements so one may surmise that the Williams will most certainly sport a different front wing design when hitting the track for pre-season testing in Barcelona next week.

Last but not least, one can notice that Williams has retained the thumb-tip nose design that has been a distinctive trait on Grove’s chargers since 2015.

ADDING AN S-DUCT BUT KEEPING A CONVENTIONAL WISHBONE DESIGN



On the front end of the FW40 chassis, one can spot an S-duct system. Interestingly, Williams has never raced the concept so far.

As a reminder, the purpose of the S-duct is to speed and clean up the airflow under and over the nose, this in order to prevent as much as possible having slow air on the car’s nosecone, ahead of the driver.

The air is then spat out through an outlet. The latter is rounded on the FW40, same as on last year’s Force India VJM09, while it was hollowed out within the chassis on the Mercedes, McLaren, and Toro Rosso layouts. The mandated increase in nose length makes it more enticing to have an S-duct this year.

According to the rendering, the lower wishbone would retain its conventional ‘V’ shape. Once again, Williams engineers did not seem to have copied the conjoined wishbone approach made popular by Mercedes and adopted by the likes of Ferrari, Force India, and Toro Rosso.

In reducing drag and guiding the airflow efficiently, the conjoined design makes even more sense in 2017 given that the incidence of the suspension legs has gone from +/-5° to +/-10°, thus making the wishbones even more aero-friendly.


LARGER BARGEBOARDS



The FW40’s bargeboards are longer, wider and higher compared to last year’s FW38. The devices will drive out more of the front wheels’ turbulent wake and feed cleaner air underneath the car. In turn, this should increase downforce both at the front and the rear of the underbody.

Once again, the rendered images appear to show a much simplified version of the definitive design, which should feature more complex volumes and include a higher number of aero elements.


TAKING A LEAF OUT OF MERCEDES’ AIRBOX



Williams’ roll-hoop design draws some inspiration from last year’s Mercedes installation. Wider and flatter, the new-look airbox seems to have three separate inlets: a main duct that feeds cooling air to the compressor, flanked by two smaller pipes that send air to a radiator placed as an extension of the engine (which is either an ERS or gearbox cooler).

Consequently, the rectangular aperture that used to appear below the airbox and behind the driver’s head is gone (see yellow arrows), which hints at changes in the internal cooling package


BREAKING AWAY FROM RECENT ENGINE COVER DESIGNS



The leading edge of the FW40’s engine cover seems higher than on its predecessor but one should remember that the rear wing sits at a significantly lower level in 2017. Therefore, we will have to wait for further images to know whether this is just an optical illusion or not.

The base of the fin is solid and no longer hollow (compare yellow arrows), probably in a bid to better align the airflow towards the rear wing, which sits 150mm lower so in an area more exposed to turbulences. That’s why shark fins, which were all the rage in 2008-10, have made a return this year (see the Sauber C36 for instance).

At any rate, the elongated Williams engine cover is a departure from recent designs that used to be very short.


NOT LOOKING FOR REAR-GUARD ACTION



The new rear wing, which has gained 200mm to reach 950mm in width this year, is hard to make out on the rendering.

The wing’s curved outline exudes a Mercedes flavour, though its profile is less marked. The angle of incidence on the outer sections of the main plane is shallow – this to curb drag – whereas it remains important in the central part in order to still generate downforce.

It is worth pointing out that Williams’ new head of aerodynamics Dirk De Beer has not provided any input on the FW40’s volumes since the former Lotus and Ferrari man will start in his new role at Grove on March 1.

Devised and designed under the stewardship of Pat Symonds, who retired at the end of last year, the Williams FW40 will have the difficult task of helping the fabled British team recover from its 2016 slump that saw it slip down to fifth in the Constructor’s championship.

[LookBackTime]

High resolution images!

[edu2703]

Well, it's a 3D render, so I will not waste time analyzing it. There are several missing details and the model seems to be out of proportion.

Basically, it's just marketing. I'll wait until Williams officially launches the car on Saturday. There are rumors that the official car will be a little different from the model, including a new livery. But this is subject for another topic.

[ClarkBT11]

After looking at this image I'm believe the optical illusion is the difference in specular nature between the floor and the blended surface between floor and sidepod.

Williams has rendered the car with a ultra matte floor, perhaps not even black. The blended surface between the blue lines is black rendered with a satin finish and the highlights are evidence.

I've drawn a rough section line (red) that I believe shows the actual surface, or close.

https://s10.postimg.org/6cq67hlkp/specular.jpg

I agree now that it was my mistake, I had a picture in my head how the new floor would be designed and the illusion backed up my thoughts. Looking at saubers floor my thoughts might not be far off, guess we'll find out next week.

[zioture]

[dren]

Well, it's a 3D render, so I will not waste time analyzing it. There are several missing details and the model seems to be out of proportion.

Basically, it's just marketing. I'll wait until Williams officially launches the car on Saturday. There are rumors that the official car will be a little different from the model, including a new livery. But this is subject for another topic.

I fully expect a more detailed car at launch. Much like the differences between the Renault renders and actual car.

[tomazy]

Is it official that they will launch the car on Saturday? I read that they have a filming day then, but nothin about the launch?

[LookBackTime]

Is it official that they will launch the car on Saturday? I read that they have a filming day then, but nothin about the launch?

I have seen February 25th as "launch date" on different sites. But no specifics.
And Williams Racing site is quiet about this.

I guess: it will be a filming day and may be they will release some pictures.

[F1Krof]

From what I gathered, Williams again following the route of 2014, efficient low drag configuration fast on the straights. I wonder if they think that overtaking's going to be hard, therefore having a faster car on the straights will give them an advantage?

[LookBackTime]

From what I gathered, Williams again following the route of 2014, efficient low drag configuration fast on the straights. I wonder if they think that overtaking's going to be hard, therefore having a faster car on the straights will give them an advantage?

That 's my understanding too ! The impact of drag is much higher this year than in 2014 .
Or at least will use the actual low drag philosophy and try to develop the car on a different route this year and next year (if you compare with what happened in the last two years with aero dev. - see Claire Williams comments made few weeks ago).

I think you opened an interesting subject for discussion . Let see what others are thinking about this subject.

[F1Krof]

From what I gathered, Williams again following the route of 2014, efficient low drag configuration fast on the straights. I wonder if they think that overtaking's going to be hard, therefore having a faster car on the straights will give them an advantage?

That 's my understanding too ! The impact of drag is much higher this year than in 2014 .
Or at least will use the actual low drag philosophy and try to develop the car on a different route this year and next year (if you compare with what happened in the last two years with aero dev. - see Claire Williams comments made few weeks ago).

Exactly, they fared very well in 2014, then they started to dip as the others refined their Aerodynamic's efficiency. I believe (of topic), Red Bull ran some clever rake controlling suspension trickery, they were very fast on the straight, normally in 14' 15' they were no match for Williams. They found out that the others are catching up and change their philosophy for 2016 which they truly dipped. Let's see this time around, from all the cars up until now, even though it is just a render, it's seem very slick, front to end looks to have been designed for minimum drag. Unless the rendered picture is a Spa or Monza configuration spec.

[dren]

The low drag philosophy worked well for Williams when they had the large Mercedes PU advantage over the field. It has dwindled the last two years. Even with a top speed advantage, higher DF cars are going to keep their distance in the turn leading up to the straight that I wonder if the low drag will have much of an advantage. The higher DF cars will be able to brake later and carry more speed into corners as well.

[LookBackTime]

The low drag philosophy worked well for Williams when they had the large Mercedes PU advantage over the field. It has dwindled the last two years. Even with a top speed advantage, higher DF cars are going to keep their distance in the turn leading up to the straight that I wonder if the low drag will have much of an advantage. The higher DF cars will be able to brake later and carry more speed into corners as well.

"The higher DF cars will be able to brake later and carry more speed into corners as well." - difficult to argue with this =D>

I am thinking more about using less fuel for a race : 5kg or even 7kg! What will be the advantage using this strategy?
And I am thinking (pure guess - no insider info): this year Mercedes engine will be a beast difficult to reach by others engine manufactures.