With the majority of the Formula 1 teams having now completed two pres-season tests with their new cars, this week’s Barcelona session should provide a better idea of the real level of performance of the new Williams.
Driven by veteran Rubens Barrichello, the Cosworth-powered Williams FW33 made the headlines last week when it set the fastest time of the four days of testing at Jerez de la Frontera.
Rumours suggested the Brazilian’s new FW33 car was running low fuel, super soft tires and an underweight car after its KERS unit was removed.
“Absolute nonsense,” Williams’ technical director Sam Michael told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “The time is real. Anyone who knows our team knows that we don’t run underweight.”
That said the FW33 remains technically very advanced as it can be seen from the following photos. We have increased the brightness and the contrasts of the photos to clearly show the details of the rear section of each car.
The FW33 features the lowest rear end of all the new cars. It is lower even than Red Bull's RB7. This is the result of a very compact packaging of the gearbox and differential.
The rear end is so low that the driveshaft angle is the greatest ever seen, at around 14°, 6-7° being normally considered the maximum limit for this highly stressed component.
The Williams team also spent a lot of time developing and testing this solution before introducing it to the new project. Indeed, the whole rear of the FW33 is very innovative.
Look at the unique pick-up point for the suspension's top wishbone, mounted directly on the central rear wing pillar. Williams have also followed the trend for a pull rod rear suspension layout for 2011. Only Ferrari, Sauber (running a Ferrari engine and gearbox), Virgin and Hispania Racing Team have kept a push-rod layout.
Driven by veteran Rubens Barrichello, the Cosworth-powered Williams FW33 made the headlines last week when it set the fastest time of the four days of testing at Jerez de la Frontera.
Rumours suggested the Brazilian’s new FW33 car was running low fuel, super soft tires and an underweight car after its KERS unit was removed.
“Absolute nonsense,” Williams’ technical director Sam Michael told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “The time is real. Anyone who knows our team knows that we don’t run underweight.”
That said the FW33 remains technically very advanced as it can be seen from the following photos. We have increased the brightness and the contrasts of the photos to clearly show the details of the rear section of each car.
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| The top wishbone and the angled driveshafts (in bronze color) of the FW33 are clearly visible. (Photo: WRI2) |
The FW33 features the lowest rear end of all the new cars. It is lower even than Red Bull's RB7. This is the result of a very compact packaging of the gearbox and differential.
The rear end is so low that the driveshaft angle is the greatest ever seen, at around 14°, 6-7° being normally considered the maximum limit for this highly stressed component.
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| Another view of the rear end of the Williams. Photo: WRI2) |
The Williams team also spent a lot of time developing and testing this solution before introducing it to the new project. Indeed, the whole rear of the FW33 is very innovative.
Look at the unique pick-up point for the suspension's top wishbone, mounted directly on the central rear wing pillar. Williams have also followed the trend for a pull rod rear suspension layout for 2011. Only Ferrari, Sauber (running a Ferrari engine and gearbox), Virgin and Hispania Racing Team have kept a push-rod layout.
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| Rear end of the Red Bull RB7. (Photo: WRI2) |
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| Rear end of the Ferrari F150th Italia. (Photo: WRI2) |