Williams Martini Racing FW40 Technical Analysis.
So with the launch of the first Formula One 2017 challenger we can now start to see what we should expect to see in 2017 in terms of aerodynamics. Here I will go over the main aerodynamic elements of the FW40. This car has been built under the new FIA Formula One 2017 technical regulations. So lets see what Williams Martini Racing has been up to over the winter break!
So here is the new FW40. I have coulour coded the car so it is easier to understand where I am talking about.
In RED: We will start with the above driver air intake (or air box) You can see that it is much larger than last year and takes after the 2016 Mercedes-Benz air box. But I believe Mercedes (Engine Supplier) has told teams to make the air box this big. Also this will surly make overheating of the engine and other components less frequent.
As you see on the nose there is a gap between the joints, this is not as clear as the rest of the changes but I believe that once again it is a Mercedes style front air intake like in 2016. Since this is not clear I am not going to say any more about this due to it is unclear for what this part is.
Rear Wing - This is possibly the biggest change to all the car and I am very impressed at Williams for what they have produced. This rear-wing has been developed a lot it is swept back which means the airflow will pass round the edge and though the side wing slits. Which in tern make more downforce to the rear. The wing seems to have a low drag profile which could show that Williams are aiming once again for strait line speed.
In BLUE: You can see that the barge-board has been created for the 2017 regulations and in tern it is large making a large surface area for airflow. This will mean that the airflow will move round the barge-board moving the air around the car to the rear where it will go into the diffuser creating rear downforce.
In YELLOW: Here you will see the side parts which have not changed since 2016 or have been made more simpler for this 'photo launch' I will expect this to change after the tests.
In BROWN: I go into more detail of this part in the picture below. You can see the car,wing attachment point this looks fairly basic for the moment but Williams have confirmed that it will
change for the official car launch on the 25th of February.
NEW DELTA SHAPE FRONT WING - You can see the new front wing which is mandatory to be in the delta shape. It seems to be fairly basic and not changed since the Abu Dhabi GP of 2016.
WHITE and GREEN:
WHITE - You can see here the inner support for the wing and it is crucial to get airflow round the outside of here and into the diffuser, this is because air which is in the inside of the wing will mix with exhaust gasses creating a build up of un-wanted dirty air. If the dirty air builds up to much it can damage parts and make the car slippery Williams had this issue in 2013 and 2016.
GREEN- Williams have adopted a L shape top wing DRS ending point. This 'gap' forces air downwards or towards the sides of the wing that, is the white airflow seen on long straits mainly at Austria.
RED - You can see the much wider 2017 Pirelli tires which will make teams re-design a stronger and tougher suspension arms to cope with the larger and heavier tires.
YELLOW/BLUE - These are the main areas to generate downforce including the new 2017 regulation, bigger diffuser change. The diffuser is hard to talk about due to the air channels being underneath the car, at the back you can see 8 main veins to channel air. These are fairly basic due to this being a launch graphic design...
I will not anyalise the front wing and nose, the front wing plates and parts being the same as Abu Dhabi*Just larger and longer.
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