The new season is near and the teams have presented us with all their single-seaters with which they will compete. But there is a question that many are asking: what happened to the Williams F1 car?
Now there’s very little left until the days of pre-season testing, by now we even know the times of the Bahrain test. We have seen many single-seaters, such as the new livery of 499P by Ferrari o to Mercedes W15, of others we have seen some hints with parts of the bodywork in the shadow or similar videos. But there is one that hasn’t shown up yet and about which we know practically nothing: the Williams F1 single-seater. There wasn’t a single video, a first look, nothing. She is practically shrouded in the shadow of mystery. Williams herself talks about the situation, explaining to us what is happening.
Why haven’t we seen Williams’ new F1 car yet?
It is not strange that, at the time of the announcement, the team only showed the FW46 livery. What is worrying is that there wasn’t even a track test at Silverstone. Answering all our questions is the team principal of the Grove team, James Vowles. He admitted that the FW46 is experiencing delays. These delays, however, are for good reasons, since they are bringing about big changes on the frame and other elements of the car. In fact the FW46 has undergone some very demanding organizational and technological changes, which Vowles said, exceeded expectations. It is not the first time that she has been delayed, in fact in 2019 he did not participate in the start of pre-season testing always due to delays regarding development. This delay was due to other changes that should not be underestimated, such as the slowness of the vehicle and the fact that there were even some components that were out of the ordinary.
Fortunately, however, this time the situation is not so serious. Vowles said it himself, revealing that the FW46 could have taken to the track before a shakedown the day before testing began, but they chose not to. Instead of taking to the track in the cold and rain, they decided to continue conducting simulator tests in calmer conditions. Clearly driving the car only in peculiar circumstances it limits the stable quite a lot, especially if they aspire to conquer seventh place in the constructors’ championship in 2023, let alone improve it. Daring in terms of technology and design methods has certainly led Williams to reach the top with the new FW46, but it will bear fruit in the medium term.
What do you think Williams will be able to do? Will he be able to regain seventh place or will he do worse than last championship? Let us know your predictions in the comments. Continue to follow us on techgameworld.com for other news and much more from the world of F1.