Williams teases on the new look of FW36

As the 2014 Formula One season is fast approaching, new designs for the F1 cars are one of the things to watch out for. Recently, Williams revealed the first images of the Mercedes-powered FW36. One visible change to its design is the FW36’s dropped nose which is a feature that many F1 cars are expected to have due to the new regulation.

Williams gave the public a glance of what the FW36 nose will look like. With this, Williams was the first Formula One team to reveal its nose design for the upcoming 2014 F1 Grand Prix.

The design of the new nose of the FW36 has adjusted to the requirements imposed by the new regulations for 2014. With this, the height of Williams FW36 nose tip is 185 mm which is lower compared to the previous design.

Other than the drooped nose, the new FW36 will come in a ‘heritage blue’ color finish. There is also the fin on the engine cover and a rear wing monkey seat which is located behind the central exhaust outlet.

However, the power of the new Williams FW36 can’t be seen on the images that has been revealed. Good thing Pat Symonds, Williams Chief Technical Officer, gave F1 enthusiasts an idea.

"There's a lot more technology on the cars this year, we've had turbo-charged engines in F1 before; what's different this time is that it is much more than just an engine change, it is a completely different system. We've gone from a slightly hybridized normally-aspirated engine to a fully-integrated hybrid power unit with novel technology at its heart," said Symonds.

"Overall the cars will need more cooling this year, the demands on water and oil cooling may be slightly diminished, but the ERS system is significantly more powerful and hence needs more cooling. We also have to cool the charge air from the turbocharger compressor which requires a substantial intercooler," he adds.

The FW36 is also equipped with a new eight-speed gearbox which the Williams team built for the first time. Symonds says the new gearbox was finished relatively early and has completed a lot of running on the test rig and at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth. In spite of these, Symonds still wants to further test the new eight-speed gearbox.

Williams also revealed their final launch-specification aerodynamic package during the first week of December. With this, Symonds believes that aerodynamics will still be the key component for the upcoming 2014 F1 Grand Prix.

Overall, Symonds says building the new FW36 has gone smoothly, but the challenge was on how to catch and be within the weight limit. The reason for this “is the new power unit is heavier than the outgoing V8" Symonds said. Nevertheless, they managed to be successful in going within the weight limit.

The new FW36 will have its debut on the racetrack during the pre-season test in Jerez on January 28.