The Williams team unveiled Monday the design of the single-seater with which it will compete in this year’s Formula 1 World Championship and which will have Thai Alexander Albon and American Logan Sergeant as official drivers.
The design of the ‘FW45’ is an evolution of the one that adorned the ‘FW44’, keeping the different shades of blue and streaks of red and turquoise, and without the presence of the traditional light blue and orange colors of the American oil company ‘Gulf’, new sponsor.
On the technical side, the British team stressed that the single-seater, which will take to the track on February 13 at the English Silverstone circuit, has raised the edges of its floor to comply with the updated FIA Technical Regulations, which has also been used «to greatly evolve the pontoon concept, which has been possible thanks to the optimization of the power unit’s cooling design».
In addition, Williams has also made «modifications to the front suspension design, as well as to the main external aerodynamic surfaces.» «As a result, the ‘FW45’ is more aerodynamically efficient than the ‘FW44’, with more overall downforce and improved handling characteristics,» he added.
«The car looks very good. The team has worked very hard over the past year and over the winter to address some key areas of our single-seater, working to try and maximize what we can get for 2023, so I’m looking forward to seeing what the ‘FW45’ can do,» Albon said in the Williams statement.
For his part, Sergeant, who will be making his F-1 debut, is «very excited» to start the season after experiencing «a long winter.» «I’m super motivated and we’ve been working hard. The car looks amazing and shows the great effort the team has put in during the off-season, so I’m looking forward to starting at Silverstone before heading to Bahrain,» he said.