FW43
The Williams FW43: a car that marked a turning point in pace but ended a pointless season for the team.
The Williams FW43 is a Formula One car constructed by Williams to compete in the 2020 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Nicholas Latifi and George Russell, who were in their first and second year with the team respectively. Jack Aitken, Roy Nissany, Jamie Chadwick and Dan Ticktum acted as reserve and development drivers for the team.
Quick Facts
- Role
- Formula One Racing Car
- Affiliation
- Williams Racing
- Drivers
- Nicholas Latifi, George Russell
- Engine supplier
- Mercedes-AMG F1
- Chassis material
- Carbon fibre composite monocoque
Lore & Background
One of these reserve drivers, Jack Aitken, made his Grand Prix debut in the FW43 at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, replacing George Russell who was called up by Mercedes for the same event after Mercedes' regular driver, Lewis Hamilton, tested positive for coronavirus and was forced to miss the event as a result. Russell returned to Williams for the season finale in Abu Dhabi after Hamilton was cleared to race for Mercedes in that event with Aitken returning to reserve driver. The car was designed by Doug McKiernan and Dave Wheater with new recruits David Worner and Jonathan Carter acting as Chief Designer and Deputy Chief Designer respectively. The car was planned to make its competitive debut at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, but this was delayed when several races were postponed or cancelled in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The FW43 made its debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. The pandemic also prompted the delay of technical regulations that had been planned for introduction in 2021. Under an agreement reached between teams and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, 2020-specification cars—including the FW43—saw their lifespan extended to compete in 2021. Williams introduced the FW43B for use in 2021.
Reader's Guide
The car was designed by David Worner and Jonathan Carter, both of whom are in their first year in the team having previously worked with Red Bull and Renault respectively. Williams have described the FW43 as being an evolution of its predecessor, believing the FW42 was a good basis on which to design the FW43. Several major changes were made regarding the side pods. Firstly the car introduced a steep slope from the top of the side pod to the floor to encourage the air to reach the floor of the car. This has drawn parallels with the side pod designs seen on the Red Bull RB8 and Sauber C31 seen in 2012. Williams have also reduced the size of the air inlets on the front of the side pods and have flattened the outer surface of the side pod. The wing mirror and wing mirror supports have also seen aerodynamic refinement. After experiencing their worst season in the team's history, which included missing the first two days of pre-season testing in 2019, testing for the 2020 season went much more smoothly for Williams. George Russell commented that he believed that Williams still had the slowest car after the team finished last in the preceding season, but that it was an improvement on its predecessor, the FW42. The FW43 appeared in pre-season testing with a red, white and blue livery branded with the logo of the team's title sponsor, telecommunications company ROKiT. However, in late May, prior to the start of the delayed 2020 season, the team announced that the title sponsorship arrangement with ROKiT had been terminated and that a new livery would be revealed before the first race.
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