Compare Williams’ new FW38 with their 2015 car

2016 F1 cars

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The first pictures of Williams’s new FW38 have been revealed by the team.

See what changes the team has made for its 2016 design with this interactive image.

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2016 Williams FW38 and 2015 Williams FW37: Front view

Note: The FW37 image has been stretched vertically for ease of comparison

2016 Williams FW38

Williams FW38, 2016

2015 Williams FW37

Williams FW37, 2015

2016 F1 season

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Compare Williams’ new FW38 with their 2015 car”

  1. the stretching on the front view didn’t quite work out, the issue is that the FW38 seems to further away from the lens in this case…?

    1. Just use the slider and difference will be clear, even with different ‘depths’ of vies.

  2. The nose, side pods and armcos seem signficantly higher! Also the air cooling duct on the roll barrel is smaller. Quite a few visible changes if you ask me! Can’t complain much of the livery as I’ve liked it since Martini has been aboard.

    1. I think some of that may be related to distortions of the images but it does appear to be the case that they have raised the side impact structures.

    2. Though it is hard to tell for the images given it looks to me like the side pods are actually lower than last year, if not at the same height. They definitely seem to be smaller though!

      I don’t think the air intake over the driver is all that much different either.

    3. @todfod look at the rear tyres. THey are not on the same line. The car looks identical, the difference in height might be because the 2015 pic was taken from a much lower position.

      1. @fer-no65 good catch. I also thought something was off, but as you say the rear wheels give it away. I like a good side-by-side and I commend Keith for doing this, but this one isn’t a very good one unfortunately.

        Aside from the sidepod inlets definitely being smaller and the addition of some turning vanes, there aren’t too many differences.

        1. @mattds

          the rear wheels give it away

          I thought the note I put under the image was a bit more obvious!

          1. @keithcollantine yeah, point taken. :)

  3. Even bringing the difference in lens perspectives above, it looks like they’ve repackaged the sidepods, which seem a tad slimmer, and a slightly different shape.

  4. For me the most striking thing is the smaller sidepod intakes. That would suggest they’ve really cracked down on the cooling of the Mercedes engine, perhaps they were far too cautious last year. The rear of the sidepod also looks a bit more tightly packaged which backs up the improved cooking requirements suggestion. An evolutionary design should hit the ground running, so Williams will need to make the most of the first few rounds of the season as their opponents get to grips with what might be more revolutionary designs.

    1. As they improve the thermal efficiency it makes sense that they can reduce that. It Has such a huge compound effect, improved efficiency so more power, less fuel, reduced cooling, better aero, less speed lost in corners, less acceleration needed, less strain on the engine.

  5. They have really slimmed down the area under the nose where it joins the bulkhead which should free up some of the airflow under the car and there are some nice details on the floor and around the rear. But I’m disappointed the sidepods still look quite bulky, especially if you compare them to Mercedes and Ferrari’s offerings from last season. Hopefully there are slimmer versions on the way.

  6. Tobias Gruner of AMUS is reporting that the nose is a carryover from last year which will only be used for testing, and that Williams will have a Mercedes style nose ready for Melbourne.

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