Williams FW34

The Williams F1 Team unveiled its 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship season entry, the Williams Renault FW34, at the Jerez circuit in Spain just before the start of the first test. This year marks the team’s 35th year competing in the sport which it will do with a revitalised line-up.

The mechanical and aerodynamic design and development direction of the FW34 has been driven by a new technical leadership. Guided by Technical Director Mike Coughlan, this year’s car takes on a fresh design philosophy. Revised FIA technical regulations – of which the most significant are bans on exhaust blowing and exotic engine mapping and a drop in nose height, the FW34 carries fewer than five per cent of the parts from last year’s FW33.

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Williams rejoins Renault for its engine partnership. Williams and Renault enjoyed a nine-year association between 1989 and 1997 which produced four Drivers’ and five Constructors’ titles and 63 race wins. The French manufacturer’s RS27 V8 power unit is renowned for its drivability, flexibility and durability and will provide the FW34 with a strong performance platform for the forthcoming season.

The switch to Renault power has been a critical change for the team as the team’s Chief Operations engineer Mark Gillan explains;  “The initial feedback on the engine from Pastor Maldonado was very much positive even on the installation lap which is very unusual. Indeed it is incredibly unusual for the driver to get out the car and comment on the improvement he felt straight away.” The installation of the engine into the car has also opened up some design scope according to Gillan. “The Renault engine differs in a number of ways to the Cosworth, it has opened up a lot more flexibility in terms of mapping and it allows us to run a lot hotter with the water and oil which an aerodynamic point of view it is much better. Now we can close up the bodywork a bit. The RS27 also has less degradation with mileage in terms of the engine life. At the end of the season when they try to preserve agents that makes a big difference.”

Behind the new engine sits the incredibly small Williams F1 gearbox, carried over at least in overall concept from the FW33. “That whole area is an evolution of last year’s car, the area worked well on last year’s car. We have tried to ensure that what we gave up mechanically for the aerodynamic benefits we get back any perceived losses.” The car also retains the Williams Hybrid Power KERS used on the FW33.

The exhaust exit on the car is fairly conventional with the gasses exiting ahead of the rear suspension, which is covered in temperature strips to ensure everything is within tolerances.

The FW34 is more than 95% new but as this look at the airbox and sidepod shows it is a clear evolution of the 2011 concept (seen below). Gillan elaborates “The car is a lot tidier in every aspect, especially under the bodywork. But I can’t show you that.”


The FW34 featured slightly revised exhausts in the later days of the Jerez test, unlike some teams the use of thermal barrier coatings is not obvious. The new design features a slightly revised exhaust outlets, and also a metallic heat shield not present in the early days of the Jerez test.

Wri2/Jad Sherif
Williams employed a very large air speed sensor array on the FW34 at Barcelona, similar in concept to the units used by McLaren and Force India at Jerez the array features two beams equipped with 22 pitot tubes. This allows the team to correlate real world data against CFD and scale model results. Here Williams is clearly looking at the airflow behind the front wheels.

The array is mechanically operated and can be adjusted whilst the car is on track – here it can be seen in its uppermost position (below).

And here it is in its lower position. Having an adjustable system like this saves a lot of time in testing. (below)


Test 3: Barcelona
Williams introduced its first raft of upgrades onto the FW34 and spent time evaluating the changes. A lot of pit stop practice was carried out along with some race distance runs. The team had some minor engine problems.
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: “We tested part of our first race update package today, and in particular the new front wing. We then tested a number of interesting exploratory mechanical set-ups to investigate potential development directions for the forthcoming races.”

The new front wing (above) features a more complex underside on the main element, with some of the upper elements also slightly revised with more curvature. It has gained a McLaren style r element also. Compare with the Jerez spec wing (below)

At Barcelona a good look could be had at the tiny William transmission. Note how it drops down sharply behind the bellhousing. The inboard pullrod mount is clear to see and the dampers are mounted inside the bell housing.

Melbourne
Car 18: FW34-02
Position: DNF (Wall)
Driver: Pastor Maldonado

Car 19: FW34-03
Position: DNF (Overheating)
Driver: Bruno Senna

Williams was the surprise of the Australian Grand Prix, the FW34 showed very strong pace indeed, and it was only stunted by a number of driver errors. Senna’s incident with Massa saw the sidepod ingest a siginificant amount of debris blocking the crucial heat exchangers. The team opted to stop the car before the engine was damaged as it intends to use the same unit at Sepang.

Sepang
Car 18: FW34-02
Position: DNF (Engine)
Driver: Pastor Maldonado

Car 19: FW34-03
Position: DNF (Collision)
Driver: Bruno Senna
FP1 Driver: Valtteri Bottas
Renault RS27-5322/2 was overheated in Melbourne and failed not long before the end of the race at Sepang. The two are likely to be related. The FW34 featured larger cooling exits on the side pods extending downward from the exhaust outlet. In the image below the car appears to have damage behind the exhaust outlet.

Williams tested something on its rear wing endplate which involved using a hydraulic line running up towards the main plane. It is likely that this is part of an updated DRS mechanism, during the race the car also ran with a rather hastily updated line taped to the rear wing end plate