OFFICIAL: Williams - Cosworth 2006

[Kicking-back]

Williams have confirmed they'll have Cosworth engines next year.

They say it's not just an engine deal but a "joint R & D project involving the entire drivetrain".


Good to see it made official.

[Oaksnaf]

What will the team be called. Because i was told, sometime ago now, that Williams were going to run Cosworth engines, but be called Lexus.Williams F1?

Anyways. Good to see something made official in the world of F1 rumours, thats one of the list.

Performance. Williams airbox has severly hampered the BMW engine which has not been able to show its true colours, so for me, it really depends whether the aero department can turn around rather than whether the engines can perform. But no doubt Cosworth have a decent package.

[Kicking-back]

Originally Posted by Oaksnaf

What will the team be called. Because i was told, sometime ago now, that Williams were going to run Cosworth engines, but be called Lexus.Williams F1?

Zero chance of that.

Performance. Williams airbox has severly hampered the BMW engine which has not been able to show its true colours

Er, the airbox is part of the engine...

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Oaksnaf

What will the team be called. Because i was told, sometime ago now, that Williams were going to run Cosworth engines, but be called Lexus.Williams F1?

I thought this came from them potentially having Toyota engines?

Originally Posted by Oaksnaf

Williams airbox has severly hampered the BMW engine which has not been able to show its true colours,

really? I'd not heard this. Why not change it?

Originally Posted by Oaksnaf

Anyways. Good to see something made official in the world of F1 rumours, thats one of the list.

Agreed. There is alittle history there too. Irrespective of that I am pleased for Cosworth too. They have landed a decent team as a partner and hopefully they can achieve some results together.

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by AdamAshmore

really? I'd not heard this. Why not change it?

.

You cant change it like you can in front wings. Changing the air inlet will requite a new tub. It also leads into the airbox and the engine cover, so you will need to change those. And the redesign then has affects of the chassia nd the tail cover. Plus its a part of the rollbar, an integral part to car which doesn't get changed most of the time during a season. Then when you change the airbox, it changes injector timing, basically the engine itself.

So if you mess it up, you are basically stuck with it.

Kicking-Back....i meant air inlet, sorry for confusion. Easily done on my behalf.


Well as far as naming it Lexus.WilliamsF1 it was related to running re-badged Cosworth engines. Im sure the Williams can still be named Lexus. But it does have its complications. Its easier to be wrong than right.

[ascarracinguk]

i was gonna say that adam..if it was hampering the engine then they would have changed it by now!

[Super Tourer]

Good fit from two no nonsense racing organisations.

Patrick Head notes that they both 'speak the same racing language' - couldn't agree more and a departure from the strained corporate relationship of the past few years, which Williams (IMO) were never cut out for.

[Raglanparade]

I seem to think that we will see a Hyundai Branded Cosworth Next year.

[Russ-Turner]

Originally Posted by Oaksnaf

Williams airbox has severly hampered the BMW engine which has not been able to show its true colours, so for me, it really depends whether the aero department can turn around.

You could be the answer to Willaims' aero problems, has Frank been on the blower yet?!

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by Russ-Turner

You could be the answer to Willaims' aero problems, has Frank been on the blower yet?!

Well the team did have a shuffle in its technical squad, it is reported, widely reported, that the Williams tunnel has been wrongly calibrated and this can be due to numerous reasons rather than the software being out, which might not actually be the case.

Also through CFD a smaller air inlet will show aerodynamical gains which is logical, but a smaller air inlet does not have a big as performance edge, as a bigger air inlet does. and it impedes on all those other factors. Was the wind tunnel out,was this a mistake by the technical squad? OR a combination of both?

The air inlet design has also got something to do with when the cars stop spinning their wheels. I cant remember exactly what, but ill try and find out.

But a V8 is a totally totally new chassis design, so lets hope they get it right.

[WebberForWDC]

Their air inlet has been the same (& the smallest of grid too interestingly...) for years & years I doubt it is suddenly a problem?

[pole2pole]

Great to see that Williams have the deal done and dusted. I tell you what will these guys be motivated are what to beat BMW nest year.

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by WebberForWDC

Their air inlet has been the same (& the smallest of grid too interestingly...) for years & years I doubt it is suddenly a problem?

Each year regulations chance, each year those regulations have different impacts on cars behaviour, each year one design can do well, then the next it can plumit due to other reasons.

And it is smaller than last years. Whilst this year other teams have gotten larger. A change in trend, and Williams were left behind..... perhaps.

[Louis B.]

Let's hope this will be successfull (unlike with the Hart / Arrows' association or taking over of Hart by Arrows). Does anyone know what happened of the Hart engine & organization by the way?

[Glen]

Originally Posted by Oaksnaf

The air inlet design has also got something to do with when the cars stop spinning their wheels. I cant remember exactly what, but ill try and find out.

I think that was only when they used to have the illicit TC - they used airbox pressure to gauge road speed, whereas now they are allowed to measure that in the the normal way.

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by Louis B.

Let's hope this will be successfull (unlike with the Hart / Arrows' association or taking over of Hart by Arrows). Does anyone know what happened of the Hart engine & organization by the way?

I think the organisation went bust after they exited Formula 1.

[Kicking-back]

It didn't go bust as such, Brian Hart retired.



As for Williams - Cosworth, they're referring to it as a "blue chip partnership", so I don't expect a different badge on the engine.

[Louis B.]

It looks to me like a multi-years partnership. Is it? If so, I take it that this brings to an end the rumour about engine supply by Toyota in 2007. If it is only a one year contract then I think this is just a positive way of saying that Williams will pay to have a customer Cosworth engine for 2006.

[Oaksnaf]

Originally Posted by Louis B.

It looks to me like a multi-years partnership. Is it? If so, I take it that this brings to an end the rumour about engine supply by Toyota in 2007. If it is only a one year contract then I think this is just a positive way of saying that Williams will pay to have a customer Cosworth engine for 2006.

Customer engine, bye bye Button deal then. I dont want Button to end up in this thread though, im sick of him...

I dont know, im over thinking about drivers for today. I just hope the Cosworth can producers a peerler of an engine and get that Williams towards the pointy end of the field, and maybe help drag Minardi off the floor. I think Williams challenge is more achieveable for Cosworth.

[Glen]

As a die-hard Williams fan I'm pretty pleased about this, although I'd be daft not to be sceptical about their chances of success in the shorter term. I like the sound of it though, and I have been very impressed (considering the disadvantages they started with) with the Red Bull package this year.

The press release puts it pretty neatly when it mentions speaking the same kind of racing language - that comes as a breath of fresh air considering the poncy corporate mentality that prevails these days (or have I just contradicted myself in commending them for using crappy PR speak, albeit in order to run-down crappy PR speak?). When BMW were new kids on the block and hitting hard with the most powerful engine out there I could put up with their shiny tuetonic face, but for preference I'll take the traditional oily Williams engineering image any day.

It will be a long time until the season opens next year, but I look forward to Williams-Cosworth sticking it to BMW and Theissen with some relish.

[Super Tourer]

It looks like very much a partnership in terms of input and funding, which is essential bearing in mind how integrated the car and engine package needs to be nowadays.

You have to think that Williams are taking more of longer term view with Cosworth, perhaps they have an option for Toyota for 2007 which has to be taken up mid 2006, which gives time for SFW to assess their options and performance.

On the face of it there seems little sense commiting funding and team resources to an engine project for only one season, particularly when no one yet knows which V8 will be better than the others - it may well be that the cossie is the class of the field, in which case Williams will have a coup on their hands...

Looks like a good hedge to me, that may see Williams powered by Cossies for longer than 2006.

[Glen]

Originally Posted by Super Tourer

...it may well be that the cossie is the class of the field, in which case Williams will have a coup on their hands...

Just to refer to the earlier part of your post - the "integration" factors now outweigh the power side of things it seems to me - the Cosworth could be quite a few bhp up (and I mean quite a significant few) and the car could still be very uncompetitive if the packaging and aerodynamics aren't absolutely spot-on.

[Pingguest]

I think Cosworth will be a good partner for Williams. Cosworth has a huge experience with V8-engines.

[BootsOntheSide]

Cosworth's performance early in 2006 will not be representative of how they can do longer-term once everyone else has had more practice at running V8s, but it's a good short-term option at the very least. Whether Button's contract is only valid if Williams have works engines is open to debate, but frank insists that it doesn't.

[richard_sykes]

Lets unlease some british beef