Williams have officially unveiled the FW41, the car model that they will be using for the 2018 season. Williams is the second of 10 teams to do a car unveiling this season, with the Haas F1 team running their event yesterday.
Williams New FW41 Car For The 2018 Season
Ladies and gentlemen, meet the Williams Mercedes FW41 😍
Full story here 👉 https://t.co/3H6FpGDBZg #FW41 #WeAreRacing #F1 #WilliamsLaunch pic.twitter.com/yMvJ6rYlX4
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 15, 2018
Paddy Lowe On The New Challenger
The Chief Technical Officer for the team, Paddy Lowe, has been fully involved in the design of this car model. During the press conference today, Lowe had this to say about the car: “All Formula 1 cars are an evolution of what has gone before to some extent, but the FW41 does involve a number of departures from the directions that have been pursued in the past.
“The car has many new features, most of which are not all that obvious, but externally the team has pursued a very different aerodynamic concept which has allowed us some significant progress in aerodynamic performance.
“All Formula 1 cars are an evolution of what has gone before to some extent, but the FW41 does involve a number of departures from the directions that have been pursued in the past.
“Overall, the philosophy we are starting to see emerge is a new approach to the collaboration between aerodynamics and design to achieve the optimum working result.
“Aerodynamics, structure and weight are the three major trades to be made in designing a Formula 1 car, and all the work, alongside a number of radical changes to the car’s packaging to incorporate further developments from Mercedes HPP, have led us to the FW41 being revealed today.
“We hope that this car will make progress in the performance rankings relative to 2017.”
Claire Williams Optimistic
Even more new blood gets added to the Williams team this year, following Felipe Massa’s departure at the end of the 2017 season. 22-year-old Sergey Sirotkin will be alongside the youngest driver on the grid Lance Stroll, representing Williams. Last year, Sirotkin was a reserve driver for Renault, while driving breifly in the F2 series. The Russian replaced an injured Alexander Albon for two F2 races. In 2016, Sirotkin achieved two wins in the F2 series and placed third in the Championship standings.
Since Lance Stroll’s arrival in the team, the word “pay driver” has been thrown around by fans and critics. Sirotkin further complicates the situation this year as Sirotkin pulls in a reported $15 million in sponsorships for the team. Claire Williams, Deputy Team Principal of the Williams team addressed this at the conference, saying that while sponsorships from a driver do benefit the team, it’s “not the foundation for a decision-making process at Williams.”
Williams added:“I am thrilled to be back and launching our new car, for a new season, with a new, exciting driver line-up.
“For many months, the team have put a tremendous amount of effort into the FW41 and I’m eager to see both Lance and Sergey take to the track later this month.”
Williams will be hoping to improve on their fifth place finish in the constructors’ championship in the last two seasons.
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