TECH ANALYSIS: Williams show key changes to their new FW47
Although the new FW47 is an evolution of its predecessor, Williams appear to have made a series of changes to their 2025 F1 car. F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo dives into the details of the new Williams F1 machine.
On the back of McLaren surprise filming day with its 2025 F1 car on Thursday, Williams have become the second outfit to get the cover off their brand-new F1 machine.
Williams broke cover in front of fans, partners and media on Friday morning, just weeks before the squad’s new line-up of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz will give it its racing debut at the Australian Grand Prix.
The Grove-based outfit, which is the the joint-second most successful team in F1 history with 114 wins, 9 Constructors’ Championships and 7 Drivers’ Championships has recently announced that it will join force with Atlassian, a leading provider of team collaboration and productivity software whose platform serves over 300,000 customers across the globe.
It is no surprise that the new Williams is an evolution of last year's FW46. With the sport facing one of the biggest technical revolutions in its 76-year history, this transition year will most definitely see most of the outfits carry over their previous cars into the last season of the current set of regulations.
At the front of the car, Williams have made key changes to the nose of the car which is now much narrower, showing similarities to Red Bull's RB19. There is now a pronounced spoon under the nose as the team switched from a concave edge to a convex curvature.
The front wing has also been heavily tweaked for the upcoming season. While the previous version had a more loaded inner flap, the new configuration is more evenly loaded.
At the centre of the car, the bodywork at the cooling canons has significantly changed while the shape and geometry of the sidepods have also been tweaked. The upper part of the engine cover is more tapered, and it features a significantly longer fin.
The lower part features a more swollen area, and the downward sloping surface at the tail end of the engine cover is less steep compared to last year.
Furthermore, the team has made tweaks to the mirror mounts while some images indicated a mini T-wing above the beam wing.
As for the suspension layout, Williams have hang on to the push rod front suspension which goes against the mainstream from last season, with most of the outfits having opted to the pull rod configuration.
At the rear of the car, the Grove-based outfit has completely carried over Mercedes’ latest push rod rear suspension, something which they are entitled to do as they receive the power unit from the Brixworth factory.
It is quite a big departure from what Williams have used so far, but the team might felt the need of updating the rear suspension from pull rod to push rod in order to embark on the last season of the current technical regulation in relatively competitive fashion.
