Williams Formula 1 chief technical officer Pat Fry admits that the FW46 is still “a sniff” above the weight limit despite major updates for Zandvoort.
The team focussed on weight when honing its latest aerodynamic package, which includes a revised floor, diffuser, sidepod inlets and engine cover.
However the major weight saving was with a revised air intake/rollhoop design. That required a new FIA impact test, which was successfully passed prior to the summer break.
Williams boss James Vowles revealed earlier in the year that the car was up 15kgs over the limit at the start of the season, and the team has gradually been slimming the car down.
“It’s a good step,” said Fry of the Zandvoort package. “It’s been a huge amount of work – floor, bodywork, the roll hoop structure and all the homologation needs to go with that, and then all the ducting and the bodywork around it. So it’s a large, large chunk of work.
“This has been being developed for a long time in the wind tunnel. I guess there’s a benefit just from the downforce numbers, there’s a benefit from the handling characteristics. It looks like it’s doing what we think.
“That’s all been tested in the simulator. There’s a lot of work all the way through the company, really, to understand it and then to actually try and get it here. It’s certainly a massive chunk work to add on to all the damage repairs and everything else that we had to do recently!”
Fry confirmed that the rollhoop, which significantly saves weight high up, is a big change.
“It all had to be homologated,” he said. “It’s a reasonable amount lighter, which is a good thing. We managed to get that done just before the break, which was good, so we could go into the break knowing we were all good and all okay.
“There’s weight saved from all the bodywork, the floor and in the roll hoop. I’m not going to tell you how much it is.
“We’re still a little bit overweight. We’ve got a few more updates coming later in the year, which will hopefully get us right down actually on the on the weight limit. So we’re a sniff over still at the moment.”
As with McLaren’s Zandvoort package Williams opted to introduce a range of new parts at one event, rather than spread them out.
“I’ve worked both ways, to be honest,” said Fry. “Certainly, in the past, I’ve just tried to fire as many new bits at the car as you can, as you can make them.
“But we’re trying to sort everything out really. It’s not just sorting the car, it’s the weight, the methods we use, the design, manufacture, everything.”
