E@zyVG’s Vichar::World Connected

Team in confident mood for coming season …

Most of you already know that I am a big fan of Formual 1 racing, and Williams F1 team being my favourite … for more than 12 years now. It is that time of the year when teams start presenting their new cars for the new season, and Williams has done just that few days ago - the new FW29.

Williams launched the FW29 at its home base of Grove, near Oxford in the UK, on February 2nd and presented its new identity with title sponsor AT&T. The FW29, which features dark blue and white livery, is a development of last year’s car and features the zero keel design but there are some differences to the chassis. The engine and exhaust areas have been improved to combat the problems Williams had in 2006, along with a lower and narrow top for aerodynamic efficiency. Visually, the new car’s biggest difference in comparison to the unsuccessful Cosworth-powered FW28 is a complex, swooping front wing.

“The other prominent differences from the FW28 include large chimneys expressly for cooling at the season’s first three races and a narrower engine cover spine,” said technical director Sam Michael. “At the rear of the car, a twin pillar configuration supports a lighter and lower drag rear wing, now featuring FIA-mandatory slot gap separators to prevent deflection and a lower and wider rear impact structure as required by regulation.”

The uniforms, too, are quite nice and simple - albeit with perhaps a bit too much white as opposed to blue. It’s interesting, too, to note that the new title sponsor AT&T is featured rather discreetly in the livery of the Toyota-powered FW29, as the team has also secured a deal with Chinese computer giant Lenovo.

Williams had a difficult time in 2006, beset by reliability issues, and only managed eighth in the constructors’ standings with 11 points. Team principal Frank Williams is not to be discouraged. “Without question, 2006 was not our finest year but I am delighted to see how the entire Williams workforce has pulled together and redoubled its efforts over the winter,” he said. “It is how you perform in adversity that really counts.”

This season Nico Rosberg is joined by the team’s former test driver Alex Wurz to complete the race line up. Rosberg debuted with Williams last year and his early performances attracted some attention. As the season went on the young German struggled a little but he’s learned from his rookie year and is looking forward to a better time in 2007.

India’s Narain Karthikeyan will be the team’s third driver, while Japanese Kazuki Nakajima will also perform testing duties. Karthikeyan debuted in F1 in 2005 as a race driver for Jordan then moved to Williams as tester in 2006. Nakajima raced in F3 in Japan and Europe and was seventh overall in the Euro F3 series in 2006. He will compete in GP2 this year.

This year I really hope that Williams F1 team will perform much better to that of very miserable season they had last year. As of today it is very difficult to say anything about the performance and the reliability … first few races will show us how different teams stack up against each other.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqjkgTyR5rA]

Here you can find a short video on FW29 details.

Some stats for this year’s FW29 and on the whole for Williams F1 team:

Full name: AT&T WilliamsF1

Team Base: Grove, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom

Team principal: Frank Williams Patrick Head

Technical director: Sam Michael

Race drivers: 16. N. Rosberg 17. A. Wurz

Test drivers: N. Karthikeyan K. Nakajima

Chassis: FW29 Engine: Toyota RVX-07 Tyres: Bridgestone

Debut: 1978 Argentine Grand Prix

Final race: 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix

Races competed: 502

Constructors’ Championships: 9 (1980, 1981, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997)

Drivers’ Championships: 7 (1980, 1982, 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997)

Race victories: 113

Pole positions: 125

Fastest laps: 128

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 6th, 2007 at 7:52 pm and is filed under Formula 1, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.