Appearances can be deceiving. Williams closes 2024 in second-to-last place among constructors, worsening from the seventh place achieved in 2023. However, this result stems from the significant efforts made to reduce the infrastructural gap with the top teams, sacrificing the development of the current car. Despite the limiting context, the FW46 has still shown encouraging signs, promoting a concept that marks a significant break from the past.
New DNA
The most important revolution for Williams in 2024 concerns the car concept, addressing many issues from the previous design. The 2023 car suffered from significant unpredictability, especially in braking, slow corners, and wide, fast corners. The lack of competitiveness stemmed more from poor drivability than insufficient aerodynamic load, which was limited to a narrow operational window and therefore difficult for the team to optimize. The problem reflected a development philosophy whose limitations transcended regulations, showing similar issues even before 2022.
“We’ve had characteristic problems with our car for years, even before I joined the team,” Alex Albon said at Zandvoort in 2023. “When we talk about the car, it’s something that keeps coming up because the limitations are the same.” For 2024, Williams embarked on a lengthy process. Developing a new concept involves recalibrating the compromises between various performance areas, defining a fundamental character that will be felt for years. “Yes, regulations can change, cars can have more downforce or small tweaks, but they always have a very strong DNA, and you feel it only changes when you switch teams,” Alex Albon explains.
The revolution is based on a different set of project priorities, revisiting previous simulation methods to focus on different physical aspects. Work on the new concept began during the 2023 Spanish Grand Prix free practice sessions, used to test a new development philosophy fully explored in 2024, correcting the car’s underlying character. Albon’s impression after his first laps with the FW46 is telling: “It feels like I’ve switched teams, but obviously, I’m still at Williams.”
Gains on the Track
“From a kinematic perspective, the way the car’s front feels is completely different. It’s all completely new, totally redesigned, so the sensations at the wheel are entirely different,” Albon says of the FW46, a car whose most evident aerodynamic changes involve the front wing, floor, and sidepod undercuts. At the front, the steering arm has been lowered and aligned with the lower wishbone, indicating a different management of the flows from the wing directed to the Venturi channels. The rear suspension is no longer produced in-house, with Williams opting to use Mercedes’ 2023 specification.
The result is a car with a completely different setup philosophy and balance. “It’s strange. I spent two years developing and driving a car with certain, unique characteristics. Now all of that is thrown out,” comments the English driver at the start of the year. It didn’t take long, however, for the Briton to fully appreciate the FW46’s improved drivability: “We’ve definitely gained a lot in terms of driving. We can push closer to the limit, especially in low-speed corners, where we’ve made a big step forward. However, there are still some medium-to-high-speed corners where we need to work.”
The 2024 car exhibits some behavioral similarities with the previous one, but the most extreme traits of the old concept appear to have been smoothed out. The team and drivers can finally rely on a more cohesive car, with weaknesses now concentrated in other areas. This crucial revolution will benefit Williams even after 2026, having finally softened a fundamental character and DNA independent of the prevailing technical regulations.
The Sacrifices
Despite significant progress in the technical department, Williams remains in the lower part of the standings in 2024. The reasons are not solely tied to the car but also to ongoing modernization work across the team. Investments cover not only infrastructure but also IT systems across various sectors, from design to logistics, where James Vowles discovered the team still used Excel sheets to track parts produced and stored in the factory.
The team’s situation necessitates adjustments that can no longer be delayed, at the cost of slowing design and production processes, impacting the car’s weight. “When you want to change a system and the technologies in use, there are delays, and to meet deadlines, you end up increasing the weight, which we’ve done a lot, even though the chassis is much better in this regard,” reveals the Team Principal. Reducing weight is another priority for Vowles, who notes that no Williams car has ever started from the minimum weight since his arrival. The 2024 chassis aims to reverse this trend, shedding 14 kg, but the weight gained in other areas due to production delays means the FW46 still loses 0.45 seconds per lap due to excess mass.
The Cost of Revolution
Technological modernization will bring invaluable medium-term benefits but is a significant handicap for Williams in the short term. Factory investments divert financial resources from development, further curtailed by repair expenses for numerous on-track incidents. Development is thus limited to a single upgrade package at Zandvoort, including a lighter roll structure, reversed radiator inlets, and updated sidepods, floor, and diffuser. Less than a month later, new covers for the front suspension arms debut in Singapore, completing the season’s sole evolutionary step.
The upgrades yield excellent results, with the team quickly scoring points at Monza and Baku and nearly breaking into the top ten in Singapore. Part of the FW46’s improvement stems from the weight reduction effort from Imola onwards, resulting in an overall gain of over 0.4 seconds. However, the arrival of new development packages from competitors starting in Austin pushes Williams back to the rear, but the team’s achievements in such a challenging context are nothing short of miraculous, validating the technical department’s work.
Looking Ahead
With the 2025 car, Williams will complete a revolution impossible to finalize in a single season, still needing some reference points from previous models. Reducing weight offers additional growth potential, while there’s curiosity about the suspension system choice. It’s possible the FW47 could feature Mercedes’ updated push-rod rear suspension, after opting for the older version in 2024 due to cost considerations and to advance development by a few months. It’s less likely Williams will return to in-house suspension production, which would nonetheless have a beneficial impact on the budget cap.
The 2025 Williams will be the first car entirely conceived under Pat Fry’s technical direction, joined last summer by former Alpine head Matt Harman, now Design Director at Grove. Among the reinforcements are Fabrice Moncade from Ferrari, the new head of computational sciences, and aerodynamicist Juan Molina, poached from Haas. However, the most important acquisition is Carlos Sainz, whose value extends far beyond his driving talent. The Spaniard, with deep technical knowledge, will provide crucial feedback to help the team complete its conceptual revolution, guiding development and supporting the team’s climb toward the front rows of the grid.
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