Williams FW31 Launch 2009 : First Pictures

[Giuseppe F1]

http://www.sutton-images.com/previews/dgb0919jan06.jpg

http://www.sutton-images.com/previews/dgb0919jan07.jpg

[ioan]

That nose is huge, other than that difficult to make any comments from only one view point.

[Giuseppe F1]

http://images.itv-f1.com/ImageLibrary/52047_0.jpg

[Knock-on]

Nice looking car.

[Ranger]

Great looking car. That wide nose is different so it'll be interesting hoe the car performs aerodynamically.

The dark colour scheme not only looks great, but masks the ugly lines forced by the '09 regulations. :up:

[Dave B]

Don't pay too much attention to the colour scheme just yet:



The car has been unveiled in a temporary winter testing livery, with the final 2009 colour scheme set to be presented next month.
http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44956

[RS]

These 2009 F1 cars don't look so bad as the test cars we saw at the end of last year after all. The Williams, McLaren and Renault are all quite nice.

[Dr. Krogshöj]

These 2009 F1 cars don't look so bad as the test cars we saw at the end of last year after all. The Williams, McLaren and Renault are all quite nice.

Remember those test cars were BMW's and there is no set of regulations under which BMW can make good looking cars.

The Williams looks clean, and compact as well considering there is a flywheel KERS underneath. In terms of aesthetics, it is second to McLaren in my book.

[ChrisS]

Good looking car given the 09 regulations.

I hope the switch from Philips Shavers to the generic Philips brand and the additional Philips logos also mean more sponsorship for the team since a lot of their other sponsors left them.

[F1boat]

First really pretty car.

[ioan]

Those bumps on the external side of the side pods look interesting. I wonder what is under them.

[PolePosition_1]

Best looking car so far of the year!

[K-Pu]

This car ir really good looking in this livery, but we all know they´re going to change it.

Anyway, Williams has had some of the best looking cars of the last years, and I hope they don´t change very much now. Blue and white looks nice.

[wedge]

Great looking car. That wide nose is different so it'll be interesting hoe the car performs aerodynamically.

The dark colour scheme not only looks great, but masks the ugly lines forced by the '09 regulations. :up:


I think its a good colour scheme. It hides how awful looking the wide noses are but its not surprising they'll try to recoup some of the downforce from the nose. From some angles the Williams does look pretty but I think its part colour scheme and partly the design of the nose section.

[pino]

Very nice car :up:

[truefan72]

First really pretty car.

yes...I suppose

even though I think the 2009 specs make the cars ugly and archaic

[Allyc85]

Looks alright, not bad but not great. Looking forward to seeing their livery though.

[DazzlaF1]

I know its the test livery but still its by far the best looking car so far, its very pretty.

Lets hope it runs as good as it looks eh? Williams are due a good season

[christophulus]

Best looking car so far!

[RS]

Remember those test cars were BMW's and there is no set of regulations under which BMW can make good looking cars.

The Williams looks clean, and compact as well considering there is a flywheel KERS underneath. In terms of aesthetics, it is second to McLaren in my book.

Agree, the McLaren and Williams are the best looking so far. Changed my mind about the Renault though :(

How come the McLaren rear wing looks wider and lower than the rest?

[jens]

Due to their strength in mechanical grip I have viewed Williams as a possible dark horse for 2009 season. Obviously not as a championship or race win (on merit) candidate, but consistent points challenge and an odd podium could be achievable. There have been several doubts about Willy's financial situation due to uncertain future of their sponsors, some (Lenovo) have left too. But anyway, they seem ready to race and don't seem to have run out of sponsors either. :)

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Those bumps on the external side of the side pods look interesting. I wonder what is under them.

It's probably just an aerodynamic feature.

What really gets me excited about Williams is their KERS program. It seems to be pretty promising. Per grandprix.com, their flywheel solution is twice as energy efficient as the batteries used by rival teams. Its output is said to be 100 kW even though they can only unleash 60 kW in 2009 because of the regulations. And its only 25 kg. If that's true, that is really promising, especially on the long term. This team deserves some success.

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns21123.html
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72865

[Dr. Krogshöj]

Agree, the McLaren and Williams are the best looking so far. Changed my mind about the Renault though :(

How come the McLaren rear wing looks wider and lower than the rest?

They changed back to the 2008 config for more downforce. They wanted to play safe in the rain, so they skipped their original program and just ran system checks. Anyway, not every car could be as beautiful as the McLaren. I for one prefer variety and unique solutions and that's exactly what Renault gave us.

[RS]

Good looking car given the 09 regulations.

I hope the switch from Philips Shavers to the generic Philips brand and the additional Philips logos also mean more sponsorship for the team since a lot of their other sponsors left them.

Williams seem to have been hit particularly badly by the financial crisis as several of their main sonsors last year were owned by the same Icelandic group.. And now RBS are in trouble, their share price took a dive yesterday and they look set to be taken over by the UK goverment.

[wmcot]

Everyone is complaining about the wider noses on the Williams and Renault. I'd say let's wait to see how it does on the track. I didn't particularly like the drooped nose of the Ferrari F2002, but we all know how that car turned out! (And drooping noses followed everywhere...)