Many teams came to Imola with funds that have been lightened to reduce weight and approach the minimum limit set by the FIA at 798 kg: these are changes in materials that are not easily visible to the naked eye.
Imola, with the Sprint Race format that limited free practice to one session before qualifying, advised against introducing important technical innovations, but Williams did not hide: to follow up on the “slimming cure” of the FW44 it chose to stripping a large part of the bodywork, disintegrating the livery of the Grove car which is increasingly carbon black and less and less blue.
The Williams bellies are rough just like the top of the frame and sides of the body, and just like the flaps that make up the front wing, while the rear wing has never been colored. We are talking about a weight loss of a few grams, but in Formula 1 we do not give up anything to improve performance.
Williams FW44: modified the rear wing flap
Photo by: Jon Noble
At the Enzo and Dino Ferrari the FW44 had a movable rear wing flap that improved aerodynamic efficiency, a small update to the front suspension on the alignment of the arms to facilitate better airflow and the flow rate was revised. air in the front brake ducts.
In qualifying, the Grove team paid for a problem with Alexander Albon’s rear brakes: an overheating caused a fire in the right corner that literally blew up the carbon basket covering the disc and caliper. And it’s not the first time this has happened …
The FW44, while showing interesting technical solutions, is confirmed as not very competitive, adopting choices that in the design philosophy were very similar (although less extreme) to those of Mercedes. And seeing what the difficulties of the W13 are, it should not come as a surprise to the disappointing performances of Williams who at the beginning of the season hoped to place themselves in the positions at the center of the starting grid with Alexander Albon and Nicholas Latifi.
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