After presenting the visual identity on the show car, Williams showed the first photos of the new FW44 for 2022, which was tested for the first time today on the wet Silverstone, and the car stands out with extremely sidepod and engine cover.
Williams joined Red Bull in the way they unveiled a new look for the 2022 F1 season with just a few photos of the show car painted in sponsor colors for 2022.
But the team later released photos of the new FW44 that Nicholas Latifi first tested at Silverstone using Pirelli’s wet demonstration tyres.
Williams thus took advantage of the first of two film days in 2022, during which a maximum of 100 kilometers may be driven, which helped the team to check the functioning of all systems on the new car.
The team retained Nicholas Latifi for this season, and instead of George Russell, the team was joined by former Red Bull racing driver from 2019 and 2020, Alexander Albon, who missed last racing season and was Red Bull’s test and development driver.
Photo: Williams Racing PhotosAfter a disastrous 2020 in which they did not win a single point, which was their third consecutive season to finish last, Williams came close to mid-ranked teams in 2021 and Russell and Latifi scored 23 points, 20 of which were from chaotic races in Hungary and Belgium, which was enough for them to be eighth in the standings.
Team leader Jost Capito said that they decided to show the new colors for 2022 on the show car, which was presented by Formula 1 last year as part of the presentation of the new regulations, because they wanted to perfect the design on that model car and focus on the first test. did the same day.
The new FW44 is significantly different from the show car and has a nose connected to the second lowest element, like the other cars shown for 2022, the triangular shape of the side suction cups horizontally divided by the upper side structure and the new suction design above the driver’s head which is almost square , unlike the more oval shape commonly used by all Mercedes customers.
The car has a lot of cooling elements located behind the driver, on the top of the engine, to unload the sidepods which are incredibly narrow and steeply lower and narrow towards the rear end, which is an evolution of the concept that Williams used in 2021.
This year they have gone a step further, so under the sidepod inlets for refrigerators you can see the bulges that cover the lower side safety structures, which are usually not visible because they are covered by the leading edges of the sidepods or integrated into the floor.
The front wing is slightly curved downwards in its central part, in contrast to the Aston Martin concept which has a raised central part, and the highest element on the nose connects at a fairly high point, the highest of the solutions seen so far.
The rear wing has a curved profile of the lower element with an almost flat upper part controlled by the DRS mechanism and the wing is attached to the car with a single pillar integrated into the aerodynamically shaped cover that hides the DRS actuator.
Unlike McLaren, who opted for the unusual concept of front and rear suspension, Williams decided to go the proven way – push rod concept on the front and pull rod concept on the rear suspension.
Photo: Williams Racing Photos
