AT&T Williams FW29: Down but Not Out
February 25, 2007 by Jeremy McMullenThe saying goes, 'When you've hit bottom all you can do is go up.' AT&T Williams is definitely holding on to that axiom after a truly disappointing 2006 season. After losing BMW power, arguably one of the most powerful engines in Formula One, Williams effectively experienced a cramp and fell off the pace. However, the new FW29 and Toyota powerplant re-energizes Williams' hopes of returning to the top. The FW29's launch near Williams' headquarters in Oxford was all business like; very little pomp, very little ego. Of course, after a disappointing 2006 season, in which the team finished eighth in the constructor's championship, what ego could the team have? Williams faced the struggles of last season very realistically and it's obvious everyone on the team is thinking about it. This was evident given the fact the team assembled a video of Formula One fans who wished the team well but wasn't afraid to speak about the team's disappointing season. But with the rather quiet and non-flamboyant unveiling of the new FW29, Williams also unveiled its quiet confidence going into this season. One of the disadvantages Williams faced after BMW's departure was the lack of engine development, and therefore, potential horsepower. Relegated to running customer Cosworth engines, Williams faced some deficiencies. The obvious deficiency was available horsepower. The Cosworth has proven itself over the last couple of years to be a very good engine for the price. Yet, therein lay the inherent difficulty. To off-set high engine prices, Cosworth had to cut down on extravagant engine development. Therefore, though the engines were cheaper, the cost savings translated into an engine truly unable to be taken to the next level. 2007, however, may bode an unexpected but welcome surprise for AT&T Williams. With the homologation rules, and therefore subsequent freeze on engine development, it is not inconceivable to see Williams back up there near the top once again. Add to this the switch to already powerful Toyota engines, and Williams could be fitting for wins, not just points. This engine development freeze that took effect after the last race of the 2006 season may well have leveled the field amongst the top competitors. Now it may well come down to which team has the principal advantage aerodynamically or in other driver aid components that would effectively counter the performance loss due to lacking engine development. And in terms of aerodynamics, the FW29 boasts of some aerodynamic features Technical Director Sam Michael believes will be enough to get Williams back into fighting trim once again. One of the first things noticed on the FW29 are the additions of some key sponsors. While RBS remains, AT&T has become the team's title sponsor. In addition, the computer manufacturer Lenovo was a late but most welcome development for Williams. But sponsors only help the driver and car partnership go faster to a certain extent. To help the FW29 go faster Williams took the FW28 as the base design and made some important changes to the design. Taking a look at the design refinements the FW29 offers over its FW28 predecessor, there are some of particular note. The FW29 design includes an updated and redesigned rear-wing, sidepods, and rear-wheel flick arrangement. The rear-wing on this year's FW29 utilizes a twin-pillar arrangement over last year's zero pillar system. While this overcomes the bearing forces the endplates had to cope with all by themselves on last year's design, this does come at a cost. This arrangement undoubtedly increases impedance to airflow but is minimized through other changes on the car. The sidepods on the FW29 are particularly refined over the FW28. The undercut of the sidepod is very dramatic, much like that on most designs including McLaren and Renault. Surprisingly, the Williams design lacks the sidepod flicks now so popular on so many designs. In fact, despite a couple of small barge boards and a couple of turning vanes on each side, the area aft of the front wheels back to the radiator inlet is rather sparse. Simplicity seems to be Williams design philosophy for the FW29. Not only is the design empty of many of the large air-turning surfaces, but some that were employed last year were not refined for this year's design. In fact, many such devices were abandoned altogether. The rear of the car is a prime example. The FW28 employed many rear-wheel flicks in a complicated design similar to that Honda has decided to use on its new RA107 design. Williams have gone the other way and have cleaned the area up almost entirely. Only a single-deck design is utilized on this year's design. The T-wing remains but is more extensively incorporated with the cooling chimneys. About the only other such device to remain at the rear of the car is the mid-span wing profile that connects at the rear-tip of the dorsal style fin on the engine cowling. Up front, Williams is employing its dramatic cascading front wing design. This design is a variation of the full-cascade design Ferrari debuted last year. Gone, at least for the launch, were the small nose flaps that many teams tried out last year. Williams, however, have done some extensive work and redesigned the front brake cooling inlets. Speaking of cooling, to help dissipate the Toyota engine's heat, especially for the first few 'hot' races of the season, the FW29 has been designed with shark-gill style louvers just inboard of the chimneys on both sides of the sidepods. In an effort to improve airflow efficiency, Williams has designed the FW29 with a zero-keel arrangement. This allows more undisturbed air to make its way to the splitter under the driver's legs to then be directed, as efficiently as possible, around and out through the back of the car. Speaking of efficiency, Williams also refined the cockpit to help optimize visibility efficiency of its drivers. Cuts were made into the cockpit area, lowering the sides of the cockpit, and thus, improving driver's visibility.
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Of course, for Williams, the biggest change to the FW29 lies internal. The availability of Toyota power re-inspires confidence within the team and its fans to believe success is right around the corner. And, with the raw speed of Nico Rosberg and the testing prowess of Alex Wurz, Williams has the necessary ingredients to be successful and to continue to develop the FW29 throughout the season. Williams has proven to be one of the only teams to show the ability to rise from the ashes despite competing against larger and bigger-budgeted teams. Throughout his team's history Frank Williams has been able to rally his troops and overcome terrible seasons to get back to the top of Formula One. And while last year showed the team to be down, the addition of major sponsors like AT&T, Renovo and Toyota to their already loyal sponsors, such as RBS and Reuters, show that Williams is definitely not out.
