On the track where Williams scored its first championship points last year, this season the Grove team returns home empty-handed and with several regrets. On the eve of the Sakhir round, Williams was well aware that the first round of the world championship would not be easy, given the much time lost in testing due to some reliability issues and a balance to be found.
The new car has undergone profound changes compared to the FW45, an aspect that has changed some characteristics in terms of behaviour, which the drivers knew would take time to extract its full potential. After an overall positive qualifying which ended with a good thirteenth place, so much so that it even put one of the two Racing Bulls behind it, problems limited the pace of the FW46 in the race.
Just like Mercedes, Williams was also forced to cut power due to the Power Unit overheating, despite the temperatures in Bahrain being quite low, around 18°C at the time of the Grand Prix. In the case of the Stella, it was a choice that was considered too aggressive in terms of the bonnet, which cost several tenths in terms of race pace.
Alex Albon, Williams FW46
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Williams is not yet sure why these temperature problems occurred, but the team believes it may have been due to the fact that they spent much of the race in traffic, then having to move away from the cars in front to try to let the engine breathe again. .
“In the race we had overheating problems and had to cut the power and stay away from the cars in front,” explained Alex Albon.
“We couldn't show our pace. I actually think our pace, once in clear air, was good, but then, during the pit stops, Logan was unable to rejoin and we went out, losing a lot of time in the pit stops. We pitted maybe four or five laps after the others, but at the end of the race we all caught up. I think we will have to analyze the data from today and the next few days before Jeddah to try to improve the car.”
“I think the only stint that can be taken from our race was the first stint, more or less, where we showed good pace. I felt like I could extend my stint in a nice way. In the last stint I had clean air, but everything else I drove a second slower than I should have, which was frustrating. The pace was decent, we definitely made a step forward in terms of the car, which was more drivable,” added the Englishman.
Logan Sargeant, Williams FW46
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
However, temperatures were a problem that gave rise to other difficulties for the drivers, such as managing the steering wheel. The alarms are classified by priority and, clearly, the overheating signal has more importance than other aspects, which is why it covers up other information. This meant that Albon was unable to make the required changes as he would have liked, but this is an aspect that can be modified via software and which other teams have also had in the past.
“When the team asked me to make changes to the steering wheel, I couldn't do it because of the alarm [delle temperature] it covered the entire screen and I could see what was behind the alarm. Which is annoying because you make changes to fix overheating, so you're in a terrible cycle.”
However, Albon's was not the only problem related to the steering wheel that slowed down the Williams in the race, as teammate Logan Sargeant also had to deal with an issue that forced him to stop momentarily on the side of the track.
Arriving at Turn 4, the American was in fact wide, fortunately stopping in the wide run-off area, but what caused the episode was a sudden change in the braking distribution, completely moved towards the front. In fact, on the steering wheel display, it was possible to observe how the distribution rose up to 96% towards the front end, never used in the race, not even in specific cases such as behind the Safety Car, when there is a tendency to move the balance towards the front to warm up the brakes and, consequently, the tires.
The 2024 Williams steering wheel
Photo by: Williams F1
After initially believing he would have to retire, Sargeant managed to return to the pits and resumed driving after changing the steering wheel. The change seemed to have solved the problem and he ultimately finished at the back of the pack with a wide gap.
“With Logan there was an uncommanded movement of the brake balance towards the front, which is why he went off track. The brake distribution didn't move anywhere near where he requested.”
Sargeant admitted he couldn't understand what was happening when he had the problem.
“He was doing everything by himself without me asking. For my part, I can't fully understand. We've had some electronic problems in the last two days, in qualifying and today. So we just need to figure out what the main problem is. We thought we had it resolved, but obviously it came back. It didn't come back, however, once the steering wheel was changed, so maybe there's something wrong. But we just need to figure out what the root cause is and try to prevent it from happening again.”
Right at the beginning of this season Williams introduced a new steering wheel, completely redesigned compared to last season's also under the carbon cover: it is possible that some connection problems have occurred, an aspect that the team will be working on in the next few days.
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