How Williams developed its single-seater for 2009

On November 2, 2008, the world championship ended, but F1 teams are still working tirelessly to prepare for the following year. Indeed, the work at Williams began in April of that year. With so many new rules to implement for the next season, the pressure in the design office and the aerodynamics department was greater than ever.

To know exactly what goes on behind the scenes, Ed Wood, the head of the Design team, explained in an interview what happens during the winter period.

Ed, when does the car design process start, and when does it end?

« It is dependent on significant changes in the regulations from one season to the next and, to a lesser extent, your position in the current championship. In the second half of the season, teams are always just a few points apart and resources are focused on highlighting the development of the current car rather than concentrating on the new model. »

« Over the past two years, regulatory changes have been minimal, so we tended to start working seriously on the next year’s car in April or May. Thus, by the end of August or early September, we could present our latest evolution of the single-seater for the final presentation at the end of the year. »

Ed Wood, what are the main areas of change concerning cars for the next season?

There are three major changes, which include first of all the aerodynamic regulations with a considerable reduction of the rear wing to make the drafting system more efficient. This is intended to encourage more overtaking. The most significant visual changes will be a substantial reduction in the car’s aerodynamic appendages, as well as the profile of the front wing.

Secondly, there will be a return of slick tires next year, which will help recover some of the performance loss due to the reduction in aerodynamic loads. Finally, the introduction of Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) will allow for the recovery of kinetic braking energy to be used by providing an additional 80hp of power controlled by the driver via a push-button on the steering wheel.

Ed Wood, what are the impacts of the new regulation on the design process?

« The process itself is not particularly different from previous years, there is the same type of interaction between aerodynamics, design, and the stress of the office, but undoubtedly a bit more for this year due to the significant changes for 2009. We primarily had to create a department for the development and design of the KERS, and Williams had to hire new engineers to perform extremely intensive work. I would add that the biggest area of change compared to previous years is the winter testing program since there are many more new systems to test and make reliable compared to previous years. »

What is the status of the development of the 2009 car in relation to the schedule?

We established a fairly detailed development schedule at the end of 2007, when we were informed of the major changes to the 2009 regulations. This timeline took into account specific performance objectives in terms of aerodynamics, mechanical development, and also a precise program for testing new technological elements on the track. As of today, we are on track with our aerodynamic goals and have introduced new technologies for the track according to our initial schedule.

« In Jerez in September, we tested a new gearbox, a rear suspension, as well as an aerodynamic package incorporating the modifications for 2009, such as the wing and rear diffuser, and some fundamental elements of our KERS system. The analysis of the results of all these tests was extremely useful to us, as we were able to start the winter testing with aerodynamic characteristics similar to those planned for 2009. »

In 2008, Williams had a significant workload to meet the regulatory changes for the next season. Financial and human resources were necessary to develop a brand new car on time.

At a time when the recurring topic for the FIA is cost reduction, is it aware of the additional costs incurred by its regulatory changes?