Good news from Williams

[Speed]

From: F1racing.net
"Williams is much more aggressive now in the chassis and aerodynamics - it's not a case of improving from last year - it's a new way completely," - Berger
http://www.f1racing.net/news.php?ID=51923

[Jukebox]

Good news? why should it be good news? ....it should have been bad news for Williams....

The have to start the chassis development all over again unlike teams like Ferrari and McLaren who only needed to further develope and improve from what they already have.

I doubt very much they will improve drastically as they needed trial and errors and these they don't have the luxury to begin with...sure they might come up with a waaayyyy new chassis and have a few revolutionary add ons rather than the typical Williams add ons (brakes, suspension setup etc) but get real......Williams will always have awful chassis and they really have BMW to thank, if not they wouldn't dream of being in the top 3

[The Other Chris]

yeah their chassis hasnt been good since newey left. but i think that williams knows what theyre doing and should be more competitive next year.

[kuchi]

Well, it is good news to me. As long as williams get a better chasis than the one they used this year, everything is going to be better for the team. No matter if ir is a whole new one, sometimes is better to try new things, and they do have a lot of time to try these new changes.

BMW must be really happy with this news, I mean if the engine continues to be as reliable as it was this past season, they will see more wins next season.

[Valve Bounce]

Damn!! I was hoping the good news was they fired Ralf

[twig]

actually, McLaren have just redesigned the MP4-17, calling it the MP4-17D which has a revised back end and gearbox (I think).

They have been designing the MP4-18 for quite some time but have apparently stopped work on that, and started from scratch again, calling it the McLaren MP4-18B, which will be raced from Imola and onwards. So they have also gone radical, not to say that their chassis wasnt a beauty this year.

On the topic of McLaren, i think they will/might do better next year, or before Imola as they now have a little bit more improved reliability then to begin with.

Tom.

[Jukebox]

You might be right twig...i'm a bit lazy to search back and review on the Mac's chassis development this season but from my observation there's not much or can be called radical if compared with what the Williams did.....they changed the designs at least 3 times this season and i've posted a hell lot of pics in detail previously throughout the season

[Gt_R]

It's good news.

The problem with Newey leaving Williams is, a great designer has left. Leaving with Williams what is the core - its engineering. Thus, while the team continues to improve and re-engineer everything every year, it isn't able to match teams who has the capabilities top designers/technical engineers combined to innovate.

And as we know, you can only go so far, with so much.

Sure, Ferrari has a head start with a better base to work on. But Williams starting off late, they can actually poach ideas from Ferrari and include their own. And with this "new base", they had technically speaking a more advanced base to work with. We see how much the F2002 improved over the season since its first race at Brazil, similarly, Williams would have a huge scope for improvement and they can do it quick. Hence, don't be surprised if Williams may start off slow, but right up with Ferrari come the 2nd half.

[Armco Bender]

New,Improved...But wait theres more......if their cars ran on BS they'd win every GP,but we'll all know if they've done anything different when the lights go out at the first GP 2003.

[Gt_R]

I think Mclaren and Williams better pull up their socks. With new tyre regulations, they have no excuse that a "third party" caused the big gap...That is if sponsors haven't already start to question why the above 2 couldn't push their commitment to that seen on Ferrari.

[Total-F1]

McLaren had the best car this year, no doubts - Ferrari had the best overall package, though. It speaks volumes about how **** the Mercedes engine was.

McLaren are going to have a big headstart over Williams next season, provided the boys in Stuttgart can pull their Bockwurst out and get a good unit behind DC and Kimi

[RWC]

"McLaren had the best car this year, no doubts "
Rubbish!!
Why was coulthard was allways complaining about rear end trouble and inconsistant handling?They got in front of everyone at monaco and didn't need to go fast.They thought their lack of power should suit hungary but where were they?No,mac didn't have a good chassis by far in 2002.
The ferrari was easily the allround best.As ross himself said"together with the 94 benetton,this years ferrari was the best racing car i've helped design-very easy and quick to set up.Right on the pace immediately"
To get back to the subject,williams are abit of a vague quantity these days i must admit.Their engineering and good choice of engine partners will allways keep them up near the front,but have they still got what it takes to make THE best car?In the past one could ALLWAYS say the do,but now?I hope i'm wrong,the world would be a strange place without williams knowing how to use a powerfull engine.

By the way,why on earth do people think that michilan being allowed to make different tyres for Mac and Williams can help things???Talk about division of effort!!! Bridgestone will allways do better with only one team to develop for and thats all there is to it.

[Total-F1]

A great car doesn't necessarily means it's easy to set up - that's why the Ferrari was the best package.

And the rear end suffered because they'd exploited the loophole with the suspension mounts at the front of the car so well.

[golem]

Why isn't williams really getting serious and sourcing continental/pirelli/dunlop/goodyear et al? I'm sure someone in BMW could realise the importance of this and maybe help out, tying it in with special tyre development for BMW roadcars.

It'd benefit both McLaren AND Williams to do this.

[Glen]

Williams is the number one Michelin team at present - why should they be panicking and looking for another tyre supplier? They should be doing precisely what they are doing right now - building on their extra year's experience with the tyre supplier (compared to McLaren) and working to get tyres specially tailored to their needs. The new regulations allow this to happen, so where's the problem?

I think there is a lot of bunkum talked about the Williams chassis being no good, and the McLaren being much better. Williams are a solid team who are very much at the cutting edge of F1 design. You don't get to second place with a crappy chassis - BMW power alone doesn't explain their performance. Look at Toyota - often at the top of the speed trap figures but sadly lacking in every other way.

In 2001 the Williams chassis excelled at the quicker circuits, and this wasn't just because of a power advantage - they had found a better solution when it came to the "big stops" to slow corners which are typically found at tracks such as Monza. In 2002 Ferrari found a way to cut back that advantage and combine it with their traditional strength, which was superior handling in the quicker corners and in a steady-state in cornering such as is found at Barcelona.

I'd never discount McLaren, because they are a formidable force and have vast resources (on a par with Ferrari when you tae into account that Ferrari make their engines out of thheir budget), but right now it is Mclaren who need to catch up, not Williams.

[neilap]

Exactly, there is no way Williams would have placed 2nd with a bad chassis. I feel only Ferrari and maybe MacLaren had a better aero and chassis setup. The motor is strong but that alone just does not cut it.
It is sometimes good to make huge changes. Obviously what they were working with did not get any closer to Ferrari throughout the season, in fact the opposite happened. When Williams were getting all their poles I remember MS saying the F2002 was designed to improve their race performance more than qualifying since they were always good in quali but had to race hard to win in 2001. He then said that they would have to work on qualifying a bit more... that was the last time JPM had a pole. That is how versatile the Ferrari is. I would expect the major change because the last chassis was at its limit.

[Sodemo]

I say wind up that BMW engine once again, lets see some more blow ups!

[I Ate Yoko Ono]

Originally posted by Jukebox
Good news? why should it be good news? ....it should have been bad news for Williams....

......Williams will always have awful chassis and they really have BMW to thank, if not they wouldn't dream of being in the top 3

I can honestly say this post is cr@p on a number of levels.

Firstly, Williams scored nearly half of all poles this season. You can't do that week in week out with anything other than a superb chassis. BMW would not be anywhere in the back of anything else other than a McLaren IMO.

WIlliams have two things holding them back:

1)Michelin tyres meant they could not exploit the potential of the chassis over race distance.
2)BMW engine is powerful but weak in all the following areas:
Height
Width
Weight
Reliability
Fuel consumption
Centre of gravity

Power is only one aspect of F1 engine performance, and the massiely overrated BMW engines can't even deliver that without blowing up after a few laps (witness Monza with Ralf). It's no good at all saying "look at us we can do 19,000 rpm" when the engine last 5 minutes, weighs the car down, cannot be packaged aerodynamically, has a high crnkshaft that gives high c of g and bad handling etc etc etc. BMW's PR this year has been appaling - just like Michelin blaming the whole world for their ills but not honestly looking at themselves.

[Jukebox]

Originally posted by Total-F1
And the rear end suffered because they'd exploited the loophole with the suspension mounts at the front of the car so well.

another typical William's coil springs setup