Williams FW20

Williams FW20

Jacques Villeneuve at the Italian Grand Prix
Constructor:	Williams
Designer:	Patrick Head (Technical Director) Gavin Fisher (Chief Designer) Geoff Willis (Aerodynamics Chief)
Predecessor:	Williams FW19
Successor:	Williams FW21
Technical specifications
Chassis:	CFRP monocoque
Engine:	Mecachrome GC73 / 01, 3,000 cc, 71 ° V10 naturally aspirated engine
Length:	4392 mm
Width:	Front 1460 mm, rear 1400 mm
Wheelbase:	2914 mm
Weight:	605 kg
Tires:	Goodyear
Petrol:	Petrobras
statistics
Driver:	1. Jacques Villeneuve 2. Heinz-Harald Frentzen
First start:	1998 Australian Grand Prix
Last start:	1998 Japanese Grand Prix
Starts Victories Poles SR 16 - - -
World Cup points:	38
Podiums:	3
Leadership laps:	-
Status: end of season 1998

The Williams FW20 was the Formula 1 racing cars of Williams F1 for the 1998 season , took part in all 16 races of the season.

Technology and development

Front section of the Williams FW20 by Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the Williams Conference Center 2017

Patrick Head as technical director led the development of the car; he was supported by the designer Gavin Fisher and the aerodynamicist Geoff Willis . Jock Clear was still responsible for Villeneuve , Frentzens race engineer Tim Preston left the team and switched to Sauber , he was replaced by a young Tyrrell engineer, Craig Wilson . The intention of the developers was to use what was available and to adapt the familiar product to the new requirements. Due to this principle, the basis of the car is similar to last year's model Williams FW19 .

The car had a new sequential six-speed semi-automatic transmission of its own development, which, however, was based on the previous year's model. The petrol came from Petrobras and the tires from Goodyear . The electronics were supplied by Magneti Marelli , the clutch by AP Racing and the shock absorbers by Penske . As an engine, after Renault left the engine supplier, Mecachrome bought the old engines and adjusted them to the new season. However, the budget was limited and so the engine could only be improved, not completely redesigned. The engine was a 3.0 liter naturally aspirated V10 under the designation Mecachrome GC73 / 01. The wheel suspension has been fundamentally revised so that the dimensions of the respective suspension parts have changed. The cooling system, the diffuser and the wings on the car were completely new .

Racing history

The preparations for the 1998 season brought a number of changes and problems to Williams F1. On the one hand, Adrian Newey switched to McLaren-Mercedes after a dispute with the team leadership ; on the other hand, the long-standing engine supplier Renault withdrew from Formula 1 at the end of the 1997 season . Without an engine partner, Williams commissioned the French company Mecachrome to further develop Renault's engines from last year and prepare them for racing.

The aim was to bridge the gap until the 2000 season because BMW was returning to Formula 1 and the new engine supplier for the Williams team was already established. However, the Renault engines were already so outdated that Mecachrome, as a small company with its limited resources, was unable to bring them up to the technical standard of the drives of Mercedes and Ferrari . The Williams team fell back into midfield.

The prototype of the FW20 was assembled for the first time on the morning of January 28, 1998. On the same day, the car was officially presented to the press as well as the first tests in Silverstone.

As expected, the vehicle proved to have no chance against the dominating McLaren and Ferrari vehicles at the start of the season. Although the two drivers regularly scored points, victories or even a world championship title could not be achieved with the vehicle. The best results were three third places, once from Frentzen and twice from Villeneuve. In the middle of the season there was a series of failures at Frentzen, which even destroyed podium places at some Grands Prix. At the end of the season, Williams nevertheless finished third in the constructors' championship behind Ferrari and McLaren. It also managed to keep Benetton behind, who also drove with the Mecachrome engine. During the season Williams had to give up the race six times due to driving errors; there was an accident three times. In addition to the individual faults, a suspension and an engine failure each led to the race being abandoned early.

Painting and sponsorship

At the end of the 1997 season, the Williams vehicles lost their characteristic color scheme of previous years in white-blue-light brown, as the main sponsor Rothmans Inc. had decided to no longer advertise the Rothmans brand, but the Winfield Tobacco sub-brand .

The vehicle was largely painted in red. In addition to Winfield, the German brewery Veltins also advertised with the lettering on a white stripe on the sides of the engine cover. In addition, Castrol , the Falke Group , Woody Woodpecker , Magneti Marelli , Sonax and the automobile magazine auto motor und sport advertised on the vehicle.

driver

As in the previous year, Williams competed with the driver duo Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen . At the end of the season, both drivers left the team, Villeneuve switched to BAR and Frentzen to Jordan .

Further use of the chassis

After the season, Williams provided two chassis BMWs for engine tests. BMW planned with V10 naturally aspirated engines in the Formula 1 World Championship in 2000 to participate.

A Jacques Villeneuve car was exhibited at Autosport International in 1998.

Results

driver	No.	1	2	3	4th	5	6th	7th	8th	9	10	11	12	13	14th	15th	16	Points	rank
Formula 1 World Championship 1998																		38	3.
J. Villeneuve	1	5	7th	DNF	4th	6th	5	10	4th	7th	6th	3	3	DNF	DNF	8th	6th
HH Frentzen	2	3	5	9	5	8th	DNF	DNF	15th	DNF	DNF	9	5	4th	7th	5	5

Legend
colour	abbreviation	meaning
gold	-	victory
silver	-	2nd place
bronze	-	3rd place
green	-	Placement in the points
blue	-	Classified outside the point ranks
violet	DNF	Race not finished (did not finish)
	NC	not classified
red	DNQ	did not qualify
	DNPQ	failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify)
black	DSQ	disqualified
White	DNS	not at the start (did not start)
	WD	withdrawn
Light Blue	PO	only participated in the training (practiced only)
	TD	Friday test driver
without	DNP	did not participate in the training (did not practice)
	INJ	injured or sick
	EX	excluded
	DNA	did not arrive
	C.	Race canceled
		no participation in the World Cup
other	P / bold	Pole position
	SR / italic	Fastest race lap
	*	not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered
	()	Streak results
	underlined	Leader in the overall standings

Web links

Commons : Williams FW20  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• Vehicle profile at chicanef1
• Vehicle profile at F1technical
• Vehicle profile at StatsF1
• grandprix.com A review of the year

Individual evidence

1. ^ Vehicle history at grandprix.com ( Memento from September 8, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
2. ↑ williamsf1.com 1998 season report on the official Williams website ( memento from June 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
3. ↑ grandprix.com.com: BMW and Verstappen. Stats F1, November 2, 1998, accessed April 1, 2020 .