Williams FW07
Debut | 1979 Spanish Grand Prix | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First win | 1979 British Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last win | 1981 Caesars Palace Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last event | 1982 United States Grand Prix West | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 2 ( Alan Jones, 1980 ) |
The Williams FW07 was a
Design
1979
It was closely based on the
When the British Grand Prix at Silverstone came around, chief designer Frank Dernie had designed and implemented a system that ensured that the car's all-important skirts touched the ground at all times and had also corrected some aerodynamic leakage at the back of the chassis between the French and British Grand Prix.
1980
The FW07 became FW07B in 1980, and Alan Jones, now with Carlos Reutemann, developed the FW07 further, working especially on setup and suspension strengthening. The car was now so efficient in creating downforce from its ground effect design that the front wings were unnecessary.
At the 1980 French Grand Prix, Alan Jones used for the first time (in a race) a specially prepared John Judd developed Cosworth DFV. Previously Williams had used "development" DFVs allocated by Cosworth to constructors who were judged to provide the best potential to win races against Renault and Ferrari. Modified in John Judd's workshops in Rugby, the Judd-DFV featured an advanced camshaft/cylinder head design which allowed for greater revs than even a development DFV, producing 500-510 BHP at 11,400 RPM compared to 10,800 RPM of a standard DFV. Since both the Renault turbo V6 produced 520 BHP and the Alfa V12 around 525 BHP, it meant that from the French GP onwards both Alan Jones and Carlos Reutemann had a power deficit of just 10-15 BHP compared to the factory based Alfa's and Renault's, which gave both Jones and Reutemann a fighting chance on power sensitive circuits such as Hockenheim, the Osterreichring, Zandvoort and Imola. The Williams had the advantage of only requiring a fuel tank size of 173 litres, where the Renault needed a 215 litre fuel tank and the Alfa around 205 litres, effectively giving the 1980 Williams FW07 a superior power to weight ratio.
1981
The FW07B evolved into the FW07C for 1981, and further work was done to the suspension, especially after the FIA banned the moveable skirts needed for effective ground effect. The hydraulic suspension systems were developed by Jones, who hated the rock hard suspension. During a winter test session at the
BBC's Horizon series followed the team during winter testing, and later produced the film Gentlemen, Lift Your Skirts which was broadcast during 1981. The film featured extensive behind the scenes footage of the team at work and interviews with the drivers, Frank Williams and Patrick Head.[6]
FW07D
The FW07D was an experimental six-wheeled test car (four driven rear wheels, and two undriven front wheels) tested by Alan Jones on a single occasion at the Donington Park circuit. With the FW07D proving the concept, its unique design was incorporated into the six-wheeled FW08B.[7][8]
Racing history
1979
The car made its debut at the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama in 1979, the fifth round of the season and the first European round after the non-ground effect FW06 was used for the first four rounds in the Americas and South Africa. The car proved to be reasonably competitive; Australian
1980
Regazzoni was replaced by Carlos Reutemann. While the latter and Williams's other driver, Alan Jones, formed a successful partnership, they were not comfortable with each other. Jones won five races in Argentina, France, Britain, Canada and Watkins Glen in the USA to win his only world championship, while Reutemann won at a wet race in Monaco. Williams won also their first Constructors' Championship. The main challenge to the FW07 came from Nelson Piquet in Brabham's neat BT49.[10]
1981
This time it was Reutemann who challenged Piquet for the championship, narrowly missing out in the final race, but Williams took home the constructors' championship after four more wins. The FW07C was the second fastest car of 1981, behind the Renault RE30, but the Williams was more reliable.[2]
Alan Jones lost two potential victories at Monaco and Hockenheim when fuel pressure "hunting" caused the Cosworth DFV to misfire badly, costing the Australian not just wins but also possibly the 1981 World Drivers Championship. The misfiring which afflicted Jones was caused by the high G forces and acceleration generated by the venturi derived ground effects which caused the fuel in the tank to slosh about so violently that the fuel pump was unable to provide the fuel lines with adequate supply. Carlos Reuetemann also had a similar problem in the French Grand Prix in 1981 when he was in a strong position to finish in the points, and this misfire might also have cost Williams the 1981 Drivers Championship as well.
1982
After Jones retired, Williams took on Keke Rosberg in 1982. His mercurial driving seemed to suit the FW07, which although it was now three years old, was still competitive. After 15 wins, 300 points, one drivers' and two constructors' titles the FW07 was replaced by the similarly engineered FW08 from early 1982.
Historic racing
The Williams FW07 and its variants have been regular fixtures in historic racing. The FW07C won the FIA Masters Historic Formula One Championship in 2016, 2018 and 2021, while the FW07B won the championship in 2017.
Longhorn LR02
Rights to the FW07's design were acquired by Bobby Hillin, owner of the IndyCar team Longhorn Racing.[11] Longhorn Racing built a Williams FW07 copy named Longhorn LR02, with minor adjustments to comply with CART and Indianapolis 500 rules. The car ran in 1981 with Al Unser at the wheel. It achieved a best result of 2nd at the 1981 CART Mexico round. It started the 1981 Indianapolis 500 on the third row in 9th, but finished only 17th.[12][13]
The car was later sold and turned into a Can-Am car in 1985,[14] with the addition of a 5.0L Chevrolet engine and extensive bodywork, then sold again and raced in SCCA.[13]
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1979 | Racing Team
|
FW07 | Ford Cosworth DFV | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | ESP | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | 75* | 2nd | ||
Alan Jones
|
Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 1 | Ret | ||||||||||||
Clay Regazzoni | Ret | Ret | 2 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | Ret | 3 | 3 | Ret | ||||||||||||
1980 | Racing Team
|
FW07 FW07B |
Ford Cosworth DFV | G | ARG | BRA | RSA | USW | BEL | MON | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | USA | 120 | 1st | |||
Alan Jones
|
1 | 3 | Ret | Ret | 2 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
Carlos Reutemann | Ret | Ret | 5 | Ret | 3 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
RAM Penthouse Rizla Racing | FW07 | Rupert Keegan | 11 | DNQ | 15 | DNQ | 11 | DNQ | 9 | ||||||||||||||
RAM Rainbow Jeans Racing | FW07 | Kevin Cogan | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
RAM Theodore | FW07 | Geoff Lees | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
Brands Hatch Racing | FW07 | Desiré Wilson | DNQ | ||||||||||||||||||||
1981 | Williams Racing Team
|
FW07C | Ford Cosworth DFV | M G |
USW | BRA | ARG | SMR | BEL | MON | ESP | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | CAN | CPL | 95 | 1st | ||
Alan Jones
|
1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | Ret | 2 | 7 | 17 | Ret | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 1 | ||||||||
Albilad Williams Racing Team
|
Carlos Reutemann | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | Ret | 4 | 10 | 2 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 3 | 10 | 8 | |||||||
Equipe Banco Occidental | FW07 | M | Emilio de Villota | EX | |||||||||||||||||||
1982 | Williams Racing Team
|
FW07C | Ford Cosworth DFV | G | RSA | BRA | USW | SMR | BEL | MON | DET | CAN | NED | GBR | FRA | GER | AUT | SUI | ITA | CPL | 58* | 4th | |
Carlos Reutemann | 2 | Ret | |||||||||||||||||||||
Keke Rosberg | 5 | DSQ | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Mario Andretti | Ret |
* 4 points in 1979 scored using the FW06
* 44 points in 1982 scored using the FW08
See also
References
- ^ Thorson, Thor (July 2010). "1979 Williams FW07 Formula One". Sports Car Market. 22 (7): 60–61.
- ^ a b Turner, Kevin (30 January 2021). "F1's fastest and slowest: Williams's rollercoaster ride". Autosport. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ a b Diepraam, Mattijs (2007-11-30). "Poachers turned gamekeepers: how the FOCA became the new FIA. Part 2: Onset – authority and rebellion". 8w.forix. Retrieved 2014-07-06.
- ^ As seen in BBC's 1981 documentary "Gentlemen, lift your skirts..."
- ^ "Williams F1 - The All Time Greatest Williams Drivers 2". m.f1network.net. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "Gentlemen, Lift Your Skirts". www.f1-grandprix.com. 17 October 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
- ^ "Flashback: The Williams F1 six-wheeler". YallaF1.com. 2011-03-18. Archived from the original on 2011-03-23. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
- ^ "The 'BETA vs VHS' Award". F1 Rejects. Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
- ^ "Grand Prix Cars - Williams-Ford FW07B". www.grandprixhistory.org. 31 August 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "X-ray spec: Williams FW07". Motor Sport Magazine. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
- ^ "Longhorn Williams to return". Motor Sport Magazine. 2014-07-07. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ Osten, Phillip van (2023-05-15). "When a Williams found its way on to the grid of the Indy 500". F1i.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ a b Fagnan, René. "Inusité : La Longhorn LR02 - Une Williams F1 modifiée pour rouler en IndyCar !". www.poleposition.ca (in French). Retrieved 2023-09-14.
- ^ "Longhorn LR02 - Racing Sports Cars". www.racingsportscars.com. Retrieved 2023-09-14.