Williams' 2024 season began in the splendid setting of New York, where the English team chose to present its livery for the new championship. The new look incorporates the shades of blue already seen in the last two years, but behind the scenes we are already thinking about when the single-seater will make its debut on the track in Bahrain.
In fact, although Williams has not yet revealed the car that will compete in the championship that will start in a few weeks in Sakhir, both the drivers and the Team Principal have revealed the first interesting details on the new car which represents both a choice of continuity than an attempt to break with the past.
In both 2022 and 2023, the machines made at Grove had easily identifiable characteristics and strengths, starting from high top speeds and low aerodynamic resistance, which allowed them to achieve considerable results in specific events. In qualifying certain limits were less evident thanks to the use of new tyres, but often in the race the drivers had to fight against overheating of the tyres, having to rely on high top speeds and low resistance to defend their position.
The livery presented in New York for the 2025 season
Photo by: Williams
By maximizing the package Williams was able to take a valuable seventh place in the constructors' championship, with the associated prize money to be reinvested in strengthening factory facilities and staff. The objective is to build from those bases but revolutionize many aspects, both in terms of design and vehicle dynamics, in order to make the single-seater more effective on all circuits and easier for the drivers to drive. A target that also fits with what was the basic idea of James Vowles specified already at the beginning of 2023, that is to sacrifice last season in terms of development during the championship to concentrate on the design of the new single-seater.
According to Alex Albon and Logan Sargeant, who have already had the opportunity to test the 2024 single-seater on the simulator, the sensations are quite different compared to last year, as the engineers would also have taken some risks in creating the FW46. The hope is that some characteristics of the old car will be smoothed out, which on some occasions showed unpredictable behavior during heavy braking, in low-mileage curves and in faster, wide-ranging ones.
“First and foremost, I want a car that is fast on all circuits, not just some. Yes, last year we were a pain to overcome. But this is not a strong point of the car, it's just using a weakness as a kind of strong point,” explained James Vowles on the sidelines of the presentation of the new livery.
“We were good in Monza and other circuits, but I want us to be strong everywhere. So the first change was to focus on an aerodynamic package and a platform, then vehicle dynamics. And the way I've done it is that it's never the work of one individual. It's not about aerodynamics. It's not the suspension design. It's not the way we handle what happens on the track. It's a matter for all of us. This has given rise to some very interesting conversations about direction and path.”
James Vowles, Williams team principal
Photo by: Williams
Compared to previous years, the team has changed its approach in the design phase, allowing itself a few more risks, with the aim not only of increasing the overall load, but also improving some related aspects, such as the dynamics of the vehicle.
“Last year we had a car that often behaved difficultly. And it wasn't most of the teams on the grid that suffered from this, but ours. Zandvoort showed what this car can do, if many of those behaviors disappear. So the basic package wasn't bad”, added the Team Principal, underlining how even the FW45 could defend itself well when certain constraints did not appear to be insurmountable limits.
“It's not just a question of having a low load, but it's a question that involves multiple factors. And most of the attention we paid was to make sure that we understand what these aspects are, that we put them into practice, that we understand what drives them and what doesn't, that we use simulations to understand how to replicate them and, once replicated, to make significant changes.”
“All these things are significant for the way we develop the car, from an aerodynamic point of view, to make steps forward and it's not just aerodynamics, but probably three or four areas that come into play.”
The livery presented in New York for the 2025 season
Photo by: Williams
James Vowles underlined how he pushed his engineers to take a few more risks in the design phase, abandoning certain methods used in the last ten years: “I told the engineers that it was time to break what they knew and start over, to go back to the basics and start again. Too often it's too easy to do something you feel comfortable with. It's very difficult to push the boundaries of what you're doing and break the mold you've known for 5-10 years. Yet, if we don't do it, I can guarantee you that nine other teams will. And that's why we end up behind.”
The FW46 will not represent a complete revolution compared to the past, but rather an evolution with which it will try to make significant changes to improve its behavior. Furthermore, it will also include some solutions seen on other cars, a trend that is now increasingly visible on the starting grid: however, as Vowles underlined, they are ideas taken but developed according to his own philosophy.
“Some characteristics [della FW46] they will be recognizable from other successful cars. But it's not about copying: what I have clearly said to our team is that everything must be experimented, designed, tested and then fine-tuned, and if this ends up being something similar to other cars, fine. But what we won't do is copy the other cars and then try to understand how the flow works.”
“The car will look different, but you will see that it is an evolution, because it is always like this, it is very difficult to stray too far. As for the rear suspension, there are parts we would be happy to talk about, but I'll save those for Bahrain, because there are interesting things to say about the decisions made with the rear suspension,” added Vowles, hinting that there might be some interesting news at the rear, more specifically on the rear suspension shared with the Mercedes supplier
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