BMW WilliamsF1 2005 F1 Car: FW27

By Motoring Channel Staff - 1/02/2005

Yesterday in Valencia, Spain, the BMW WilliamsF1 team officially launched its new F1 race car that will contest the 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship season.

The WilliamsF1 BMW FW27 is said to be more reliable than the car it replaces - the FW26 - and the top flight F1 team also announced its second driver, Germany's Nick Heidfeld, which is sure to please the die-hard German BMW fans.

This means that the BMW Williams team will comprise of two young guns in the form of Australian Mark Webber and German Nick Heidfeld.

Nick Heidfeld was understandably chuffed: "I really wanted this job. Driving for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team is the greatest opportunity of my career. I will do everything I can to show that I deserve this place and I'm counting the days to the first Grand Prix."

Nick has already contested 84 Grands Prix for Prost, Sauber and Jordan, and his move to BMW Williams will give him, as well as Webber, the best shot yet at the title.

It should make for a very competitive pairing, and the Australian Grand Prix will be a great place for both drivers to show the world not only their driving styles, but to show off the new FW27 race car's high speed potential.

The FW27's design still incorporates the twin keel design, but the two 'fangs' located up front on the nose have moved closer together. The new design also reveals the effects of the new rules.

To meet the new regulations, the front wing had to be lifted 50 millimetres and the rear wing moved 150 millimetres to the front.

Furthermore, the diffuser height has been restricted while the floor area in front of the rear wheels has gone. In addition, the new BMW P84/5 engine will have to last two entire Grand Prix weekends.

And on the topic of engine longevity, this will be crucial factor this year, as the 2005 season will be the longest in Formula One history.

Never before have there been 19 races in one season. After Bahrain and China joined as two new GP venues last year, Turkey is the latest addition to the Formula One calendar.

"This expansion means higher deployment costs on the one hand", said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen, "but on the other hand it also presents an opportunity to tap the economic power of new markets embracing Formula One. That is extremely important, especially for a globally active carmaker such as BMW."

The new regulations for 2005 that govern car design and componentry require the front wing to be raised another 50mm, the rear wing to be moved forwards 150mm and the diffuser height to be reduced significantly and the floor in front of the rear tyre to be cut away.

The BMW WilliamsF1 team reckons the changes initially resulted in a loss of nearly 30% of the car's total downforce and the challenge over the last couple of months has been to recover as much of the lost downforce as possible.

WilliamsF1's Australian-born Technical Director, Sam Michael, explains the key factors during the design process of the FW27: "We have concentrated on the fundamentals, and while respecting the new regulations, the approach of the FW27 has been one of refining every area of the car aerodynamically and mechanically.

"Every part on the car has been optimised to reduce weight, reduce friction or increase stiffness - depending what the individual targets were," said Michael.

"While reducing weight, a lot of attention has been placed on reliability, in particular the gearbox.

"The FW27 gearbox has been running on the track since November 2004, with no major problems, and any issues we had with last season's gearbox have been resolved," the Australian confirms.

Finally, Frank Williams, the well-financed team principal, had some sobering words to say about the 2004 season, but remained buoyant about 2005. "We want to move back into the winning lane," said Frank Williams. "The mistakes of 2004 must not happen again.

"We must implement the new regulations to our best advantage and be completely with it when it comes down to it. I believe we have the strength to grow with the appeal of the new challenges. Every single person in the team is brimming with ambition and motivation," stated the influential team principal.