Williams FW13
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Williams Team | |||||||||
Notable drivers | 5. Thierry Boutsen 6. Riccardo Patrese | ||||||||
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Debut | 1989 Portuguese Grand Prix | ||||||||
First win | 1989 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last win | 1990 Hungarian Grand Prix | ||||||||
Last event | 1990 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
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Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
The Williams FW13 was a
1989
The FW13 was designed by
After teething problems saw the Williams pair out of contention in Portugal, Patrese reverted to the old car in Spain while Boutsen continued with the new car. With the bugs finally ironed out, the new car proved very competitive in the final two races of the year, as Patrese and Boutsen finished second and third respectively at Suzuka (though helped by the infamous McLaren collision at the chicane which took out Alain Prost and later saw Ayrton Senna disqualified). The Belgian then won the final race of the year in Australia after a brilliant drive in very wet conditions, with Patrese third. These results enabled Williams to leapfrog Ferrari into second in the Constructors' Championship while Patrese had his best ever year by finishing third in the Driver' Championship behind the McLarens.[4]
BBC Television commentator Murray Walker reported during the Australian GP that the FW13, like its predecessor, was originally designed to use the computer-controlled active suspension rather than the conventional suspension used on most cars at the time. However, after the problems encountered in the first half of 1988 with the FW12, Williams decided more work was needed on getting the active suspension to work better with the naturally aspirated engines of the time and converted the new car to passive suspension. Walker reported that this was the reason the FW13 had so late in making its race debut as the team worked hard in testing to get the handling of the car right before putting it into competition.[5]
1990
For the 1990 season, the car was updated, becoming the FW13B. It featured revised sidepods and suspension upgrades, as well as Renault's RS2 3.5-litre V10 engine. The FW13B proved fast and reliable, with Patrese and Boutsen winning one race each – Patrese at "home" in
The general feeling around the F1 paddock was that the FW13B was potentially the fastest car on the grid in 1990 and that the only thing holding it back from consistently challenging McLaren, Ferrari and Benetton more often was Williams not having a true number 1 driver, as both Boutsen and Patrese (particularly Boutsen) were seen as journeymen drivers. After French World Champion
The 1990 AUTOCOURSE annual published that the Renault V10 produced around 660 BHP at 13,000 RPM, while the class leading Honda V10 used by McLaren produced around 700 BHP at over 13,000 RPM, giving the Williams-Renault a power deficit of around 40 BHP which on power sensitive circuits such as Hockenheim, Spa, Monza and Suzuka would have meant the Williams-Renault combination was giving away at least 0.3 tenths of a second per lap compared to McLaren-Honda on a like for like basis. This partly explains why the FW13 was not a match for the McLarens on fast circuits.
The FW13B was replaced for the 1991 season by the successful FW14.
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Renault RS2 V10 engine used in 1990
Complete Formula One results
(key) (results shown in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | Tyres | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts. | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1989 | Williams Team
|
FW13 | Renault RS1
V10 |
G | BRA | SMR | MON | MEX | USA | CAN | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 77* | 2nd | |
Thierry Boutsen | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||
Riccardo Patrese | Ret | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
1990 | Williams Team
|
FW13B | Renault RS2
V10 |
G | USA | BRA | SMR | MON | CAN | MEX | FRA | GBR | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | POR | ESP | JPN | AUS | 57 | 4th | |
Thierry Boutsen | 3 | 5 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 2 | 6 | 1 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 4 | 5 | 5 | |||||||
Riccardo Patrese | 9 | 13 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 6 | Ret | 5 | 4 | Ret | 5 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 6 |
* 54 points scored in 1989 using FW12C
References
- ^ "Williams FW13". Statsf1.com. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
- ^ "Engine Renault". www.statsf1.com. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
- ISBN 1-84425-223-X.
- ^ "Williams FW13". 14 June 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "1989 Australian GP Part 4". Archived from the original on 2021-12-20. Retrieved 6 December 2019 – via www.youtube.com.
- ^ "Williams' Thierry Boutsen wins the Hungarian GP on this day in 1990". 12 August 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "Mansell's perfect ride". Motor Sport Magazine. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
- ^ "FW13B-07". www.carsinternational.com. Retrieved 6 December 2019.