The Williams FW40 has been the first Formula 1 car to be revealed ahead of the season 2017. Although we already had an appetizer with the images of the scale model for wind tunnel of the Manor who, unfortunately, will not compete, the creation of Grove confirms us where to go dead in terms of a global concept of design in 2017.
There are who say that the images unveiled today by Williams through Autosport are a recreation computer science and not actual photos of the study, which will be published on Sunday, 25 along with the official presentation of the team.
therefore, it is very likely that multiple details of the car have not been revealed, something that, in any case, it never happens with the single-seater used for the presentation. The actual car won’t be seen until the first day of test and elements such as the flaps and shutter boxes of the front spoiler, the diffuser or the hardware of the pontoons is sure to change sooner rather than later.
Many similarities
In any case, yes we can begin to analyze, roughly, the first Williams of the new era that, surprisingly, is much more similar than initially anticipated to the single-seater in 2016. In this first image comparison we can see the morro (1) is the same, but obviously the front wing changes the way required by the new regulation, since the dimensions are very different.
In the area of the pontoons (2) we also observed many similarities despite the new rules, in a very similar manner of the same, as well as the generators of vortices located above and diverter flow on the side that, yes, changes in your base, surely as a result of the widening of the area in front of the floor of the car. Mirrors, yes, delaying his position considerably. To finish with this first comparison, we can observe that the aerodynamic treatment of the brake ducts (3) is also quite similar.
changes
In the side view, we can see with more clarity some of the changes that the FW40 has implemented, many of them required by the regulation. In regards to the front wing (1), we observe the expected tip of the arrow on the main layout, in addition to dimensions, in general, superior in every way. Climbing the morro-which retains the same anchor for the spoiler that the FW38-, we see how the S-Duct (2) has finally been implemented by Williams after being one of the few teams that ignored him last year.
The Bargeboards (3) have also grown considerably thanks to the new regulations and, as in the back half, we can observe one of the design changes not required by regulation: a bonnet (4) a lot more snug that the 2016, allowing for both a pontoon much more narrow in its final part. A little further up, we see it as the air intake of the engine (8), and the transmission is now larger and elongated.
the floor of The car (5), grows in a remarkable way, and the shark fin (6), in contrast, grow over the past year, but not as much as might be expected, although possibly this is one of the elements most susceptible to changes during the test.
Ending with the rear spoiler (7), the regulation requires that this year is much more wide and low, thereby generating more downforce. In also envisions a plane a primary curved and more voluminous, while the plane of the DRS does not seem to change too much.
Back powerful
From the rear view we can observe a few changes developers, as it is always the area that the teams with the most attempt to hide the importance of the diffuser on the overall performance of the car. At least we can see the logical changes made by the regulations, with a few endplates (1) totally different in terms of shape, the back of the Beam Wings (2) banned until now and, of course, the mighty rear diffuser (3), one of the keys of the considerable gain of downforce in the cars this year due to their increase of size in all the senses.
In short, the Williams FW40 -at least the one we’ve seen so far – avoids radical solutions and bet for the logical adaptation to the new regulations, on the basis of what is already known with the car of 2016 and without recourse to any innovative solution. A very continuity to which, however, the track and the stopwatch will have to give the nod definitive.
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