12/06/2004
NEWS STORY
When WilliamsF1 unveiled its 'hammerhead' FW26 on January 5th at Valencia, the Grove team knew that it was going to be a mighty big gamble.
Once everyone had got over the initial shock at the car's unusual appearance, the big question was "will it work?"
Both Frank Williams and Patrick Head admitted that they found the car unattractive, but added that if it proved competitive they could happily live with it.
The fact is that if the FW26 had proved ultra competitive, several other teams would have adopted a similar design before too long.
However, the FW26 has not been competitive, and though the Grove outfit is not struggling in the same way as its rivals from Woking, its clear that changes have to be made.
Following the opening practice sessions in montreal, BMW Motorsport boss Mario Theissen revealed that changes to the FW26 are in the pipeline, when asked if the car will look different, he replied: "I think so, yes."
Then, asked if the front of the car will remain the same, the German answered: "I don't know what way it will look different," carefully avoiding mentioning 'that nose', much to the delight of the assembled journalists.
"The new wind tunnel at Williams is on-stream right now and working at double capacity in two tunnels should increase the output," he added. "There is something planned for Magny Cours, a major aerodynamic step, and certainly we are aiming at improving aerodynamics race by race.
"On the engine side, we have something in the pipeline as well," he revealed. "Basically we had three targets for this season. The first was to come up with a reliable 800km engine without losing too much power and without adding too much weight. That was achieved by the first race. The second target was to make top power and engine speed available not just for qualifying but for the entire race, that was achieved by Imola. Now we are working on the third target, which is power improvement throughout the season, step by step."