Williams FW40 Mercedes

[Quantum]

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.

Williams were the poster boys for the Mercedes PU, caning speed traps all year round.
The telling problem was the corner speed data, which was middling to bad year round. If you compare it to the Force India,
they were 0.5 seconds down around Monaco, but 0.5 seconds up at Monza. I doubt there is a more accurate way to put the difference in Microcosm.

I think the low drag philosophy was Williams playing a game with averages. Instead of having a car that was an all round competitor relative the competition, they went with a car that almost one dimensionally focused its attributes around the engine. Their best results came at engine circuits(3rd at Canada), and worst around low speed circuits such as Monaco(lapped by a Force India) and Hungaroring(beat down by a Torro Rosso with a 2015 PU).

The upshot is that they can earn more points by bagging the odd podium, rather than eternally squabbling for 8th 9th and 10th.

The problem I have with it is that as Force India have demonstrated, going for low drag solutions will affect you adversely as the season progresses. The FW40 looks to be of a similar mould to the last 3 cars, and given the noise we hear from Renault and Honda about their engines, simple straight-line performance will not cut it.
There needs to be more complexity in the car, and it needs to widen its operational window relative the competition, or I fear Williams will fall even further behind....as the trend against Force India has shown the last 3 years.

[Sevach]

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 thing is with the cars getting so much more grip and downforce everyone will be flatout much earlier and spend more time in the the zone where drag is determining it's speed.
The whole theory on why cars won't run full downforce in 2017 is because of this.

Still we need to wait, this render is probably very far from the real thing.

[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.

The thing is with the cars getting so much more grip and downforce everyone will be flatout much earlier and spend more time in the the zone where drag is determining it's speed.
The whole theory on why cars won't run full downforce in 2017 is because of this.

Still we need to wait, this render is probably very far from the real thing.

But, how quickly are you at top speed? It's area under the speed curve for the length of the straight. We saw Red Bull pull this in Monza in the past.

Of course we don't see the cars ever really run full DF until Monaco, and perhaps some other street circuits.

[Sevach]

But, how quickly are you at top speed? It's area under the speed curve for the length of the straight. We saw Red Bull pull this in Monza in the past.

Of course we don't see the cars ever really run full DF until Monaco, and perhaps some other street circuits.

That's up to the eggheads on each team to do the math on how much they'll loose on the early part of the straight vs the later parts.

Also the assumption that Williams will have less downforce than the average is just an assumption.

The render is obviously very basic, i'm pretty sure soon we will see the car with floor slots and a more complex barge board, Williams wouldn't neglect those, all i can tell right now is that they changed for a pretty slender Mclaren style sidepod and that's a good thing imo.

[LookBackTime]

But, how quickly are you at top speed? It's area under the speed curve for the length of the straight. We saw Red Bull pull this in Monza in the past.

Of course we don't see the cars ever really run full DF until Monaco, and perhaps some other street circuits.

That's up to the eggheads on each team to do the math on how much they'll loose on the early part of the straight vs the later parts.

Also the assumption that Williams will have less downforce than the average is just an assumption.

The render is obviously very basic, i'm pretty sure soon we will see the car with floor slots and a more complex barge board, Williams wouldn't neglect those, all i can tell right now is that they changed for a pretty slender Mclaren style sidepod and that's a good thing imo.

"all i can tell right now is that they changed for a pretty slender Mclaren style sidepod and that's a good thing imo"

I agree. I found the sidepod to be pretty nice done.

[Stalker1]

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.

Using less fuel for a race leads to lighter car from the beginning of the race, which means decrease in laptimes. Over the race distance this could lead to a noticeable advantage, especially on high-speed tracks.

The question is, how much you lose with this design in comparison on the tracks like Monaco or Hungraroring?

[Pierce89]

But, how quickly are you at top speed? It's area under the speed curve for the length of the straight. We saw Red Bull pull this in Monza in the past.

Of course we don't see the cars ever really run full DF until Monaco, and perhaps some other street circuits.

That's up to the eggheads on each team to do the math on how much they'll loose on the early part of the straight vs the later parts.

Also the assumption that Williams will have less downforce than the average is just an assumption.

The render is obviously very basic, i'm pretty sure soon we will see the car with floor slots and a more complex barge board, Williams wouldn't neglect those, all i can tell right now is that they changed for a pretty slender Mclaren style sidepod and that's a good thing imo.

The assumption that Williams will be below average on downforce is probably based more on recent historical precedent than any renders.

[bill shoe]

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.

The traditional Red Bull approach is to design-optimize the car for qualy and take pole. Then they short-fill for the race but stay in clean air, build an early lead, and control the pace. By the time they have to really dial back the power to make the finish, everyone has completed their pitstops, everyone's wing-gaps and radiators are full of crud, and the racetrack has one car-width of drivable space in-between all the tire-marbles.

So starting 5 or 7 kg light will help you stay in front of the car behind you, but it probably makes it harder to overtake the car in front, so more difficult strategy for mid-field runners.

[SectorOne]

The traditional Red Bull approach is to design-optimize the car for qualy and take pole.

I´m gonna go out on a limb and say all teams will try to "design-optimize" the car for the fastest possible time around a lap.
It just so happens that different teams are differently good at it.

[PhillipM]

Ah, the problem there is if you can be almost certain of coming out on the front or second row in qualy then there are other optimisations you can make which you'd never consider if you're in the pack.

[bill shoe]

Ah, the problem there is if you can be almost certain of coming out on the front or second row in qualy then there are other optimisations you can make which you'd never consider if you're in the pack.

For sure, there are many differences for optimizing laptime out-front vs. being racy mid-pack. If you can stay out front and control the pace then you run more wing than if you'll be scrapping for positions all race. It's a matter of optimizing laptimes (more wing) vs. optimizing performance on straights where you'll either pass or be passed (less wing). Another example, do you run minimal cooling openings which are OK if you're in front, or do you open it up so you can stalk cars closely for three laps before lunging down the inside?

During Red Bull's 2010-2013 domination, they would typically optimize all these things (fuel load, wing size, cooling openings) for raw speed over mid-pack raceability, then nail pole position, and force other cars to try and catch them for the win. I'm not complaining, it's a totally legitimate approach.

I hope the FW40 has some opportunities to optimize for running toward the front this year...

[Mark4211]

[Sevach]

[f1316]

Either:

- Williams is the least willing to show their hand in the bargeboard area (most likely)
Or
- They're *really* clinging to this low drag thing in favour of downforce producing elements

As I say, almost certainly going to be the former, but funny that they're the only car not even showing some kind of representation of their stuff bargeboard arrangement.

I guess Mercedes and Ferrari were running the car on track so wanted to run something that provide relevant data and so knew people would see that anyway.

[Mark4211]

Did they totally abandon the Mercedes front wing flap design, or this is the launch spec?