Williams FW45

[CMSMJ1]

The full-res launch photo links:
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 2x5448.jpg
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 1x5637.jpg
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 4x5196.jpg

The full-res track photos:
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 9x4986.jpg
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 3x5002.jpg
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 3x4695.jpg
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 1x5274.jpg
https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fnx611yr/p ... 0x4873.jpg

The sidepod treatment reminds me of the second version of the Alpine from 2022.

The front brake duct inlets seem very small, unless I am mistaken.

Thanks for bringing these all together.

it's a tidy looking car!

[gandharva]

Car looks rather nice for a RB18/F1-75 Frankenstein.

The sidepod untercut is massive. Even bigger than RB18 last year. The new Haas in comparison features way more outwash sidepods ala F1-75.

[edgelo]

Beautiful car, full of good ideas IMO.

Is there an air exit in the sidepod beneath the mirror? It looks like an air skirt creator in order to help the sides of the sidepod on maintaining the flow isolated over the ramps.

Another trend this year seems to be the big rear hot air tunnel in order to direct the air over the beam wing. In the Williams it’s not as extreme as in the Alfa (or even in the Alpine as seen on the Silverstone filming day photo) but there it is.

[organic]

Beautiful car, full of good ideas IMO.

Is there an air exit in the sidepod beneath the mirror? It looks like an air skirt creator in order to help the sides of the sidepod on maintaining the flow isolated over the ramps.

Another trend this year seems to be the big rear hot air tunnel in order to direct the air over the beam wing. In the Williams it’s not as extreme as in the Alfa (or even in the Alpine as seen on the Silverstone filming day photo) but there it is.

Could you highlight what you are seeing as an air exit on the sidepod?

Might be the outwashing wing mirror support vane that you're looking at

[Vaexa]

Trick of the light or is that a bit of rake I spy? I know, raised floor edges, but it looks to angle up well before the Mercedes Struggle Zone.

[edgelo]

Beautiful car, full of good ideas IMO.

Is there an air exit in the sidepod beneath the mirror? It looks like an air skirt creator in order to help the sides of the sidepod on maintaining the flow isolated over the ramps.

Another trend this year seems to be the big rear hot air tunnel in order to direct the air over the beam wing. In the Williams it’s not as extreme as in the Alfa (or even in the Alpine as seen on the Silverstone filming day photo) but there it is.

Could you highlight what you are seeing as an air exit on the sidepod?

Might be the outwashing wing mirror support vane that you're looking at

This one, from the mirrors to the rear. But I’m not sure if it is a reflection on the sidepod plus a little fin

[gandharva]

It's a vane.

[continuum16]

After the departure of the TD in the offseason and stories of doom and gloom this car is a pleasant surprise. Is it lacking a little bit of the details of some other cars? Yes; but overall it's quite a lot different than last year.

Their front wing has a pretty long chord on the upper flap compared to the other teams, and they've also changed the nose to connect on the main plane rather than the second element like last year. And there's not a floor stay in sight; which they ran last year even with the wide sidepods.

[Vaexa]

After the departure of the TD in the offseason and stories of doom and gloom this car is a pleasant surprise. Is it lacking a little bit of the details of some other cars? Yes; but overall it's quite a lot different than last year.

Their front wing has a pretty long chord on the upper flap compared to the other teams, and they've also changed the nose to connect on the main plane rather than the second element like last year. And there's not a floor stay in sight; which they ran last year even with the wide sidepods.

The lack of floor stay could be as simple as the sharper diffuser edge and floor flex tests this year (ie the regulations just require the bits the stay is meant to support to be stiffer this year). I know Haas still has one but I can't see one on the Alfa Romeo either.

[continuum16]

After the departure of the TD in the offseason and stories of doom and gloom this car is a pleasant surprise. Is it lacking a little bit of the details of some other cars? Yes; but overall it's quite a lot different than last year.

Their front wing has a pretty long chord on the upper flap compared to the other teams, and they've also changed the nose to connect on the main plane rather than the second element like last year. And there's not a floor stay in sight; which they ran last year even with the wide sidepods.

The lack of floor stay could be as simple as the sharper diffuser edge and floor flex tests this year (ie the regulations just require the bits the stay is meant to support to be stiffer this year). I know Haas still has one but I can't see one on the Alfa Romeo either.

Yeah it's not a huge thing but just a difference nevertheless.

[Vanja #66]

The car is beautiful, but I'm worried about floor sealing and overall front tyre wake outwash. This amount of undercut streamlining looks way too much, but it remains to be seen. We have every reason to expect Williams to be topping the speed traps again.

Also it makes me sad to see such quick design convergence across the grid. Seems like we'll be having Ferrari and Haas on one side and 7 other lookalikes and whatever Mercedes ends up looking like.

[continuum16]

The car is beautiful, but I'm worried about floor sealing and overall front tyre wake outwash. This amount of undercut streamlining looks way too much, but it remains to be seen. We have every reason to expect Williams to be topping the speed traps again.

Also it makes me sad to see such quick design convergence across the grid. Seems like we'll be having Ferrari and Haas on one side and 7 other lookalikes and whatever Mercedes ends up looking like.

On your first point: I also am interested to see how this works, as McLaren also seem to have gone in this direction (at least in terms of undercut). Interesting since last year they basically has the ramp but with the Ferrari outwash section at the front of the sidepods, so they must have a reason for going away from it.

On your second point: I sadly agree. The Alpine (granted it's potato quality, so who knows) looks much like the end version of last year's car, which already went the ramp + ridge direction. Maybe Dan Fallows and Aston will show us something crazy...

[AR3-GP]

The undercut on those sidepods are quite Extreme. They almost don't even have a bottom part. Probably good for getting airflow to the rear, but I wonder if they create enough outwash to help with rear tire drag

The undercut profile is quite similar to the RB18

It looks like the trend is to merge the Ferrari bathtub with the Red Bull's "ramp-down" sidepods and spice this up with a Ferrari sidepod inlet and then add other Ferrari or Red Bull like solutions as required. But clearly Red Bull and Ferrari 2022 have set the trends for the future and had the best solutions.

I agree to a certain extent but you cannot rule out "big 3 bias".

In spite of all these teams running supposedly "RB or Ferrari" inspired designs, they were and will still be behind Mercedes. Miles behind.

[f1316]

The car is beautiful, but I'm worried about floor sealing and overall front tyre wake outwash. This amount of undercut streamlining looks way too much, but it remains to be seen. We have every reason to expect Williams to be topping the speed traps again.

Also it makes me sad to see such quick design convergence across the grid. Seems like we'll be having Ferrari and Haas on one side and 7 other lookalikes and whatever Mercedes ends up looking like.

I was thinking the same but also thinking: this was always kinda the point of the regs. While in 2022 folks started from a bunch of different points, ultimately one way was likely to be best, with variations more in the detail. This might mean less field spread and, again, maybe that was the point? Not my preference but probably most will be pleased if it proves to be the case.

The Williams looks like what you’d expect at this point, most of which has been said. I’ll note the, what I’ll call “acer ducts” at the engine cover canon exit, similar to the Alfa.

[Mr Brooksy]

Can anyone confirm that Williams had upgraded the composites Dept before this year's car was produced? There were talks about it from Jost last year... Also there were reports that they simply couldn't make last year's carbon strong and thin enough. This year's car looks more detailed... More inline with the competition. So maybe they've got a stronger thinner carbon allowing for that?

I know that Gary Anderson has been shoveling criticism towards every Williams for the past decade or more about the lack of detail and bring overly bulbous.