WILLIAMS TOYOTA
--- TEAM INFO ---
TEAM OWNER - Sir Frank Williams
TEAM COLOURS - Dark Blue, White
CAR - Williams FW31
ENGINE SUPPLIER - Toyota
TYRES - Bridgestone
TECHINCAL DIRECTOR(S) - Patrick Head, Sam Michael
MAJOR SPONSORS - AT&T, RBS, Phillips, Reuters, Randstad
--- STATS ---
FIRST SEASON - 1978
GRANDS PRIX - 517
WORLD DRIVERS TITLES - 7
WORLD CONSTRUCTORS TITLES - 9
WINS - 113
POLE POSITIONS - 125
POINTS SCORED - 2,600.5
--- DRIVERS ---
16 - Nico Rosberg (Germany)
17 - Kazuki Nakajima (Japan)
TEST DRIVER - Niko Hulkenberg (Germany)
Now a team that deserves to be named alongside the true legendary manufacturers of the sport and now one of the last of the true privateer teams, Frank Williams and his ever popular, hard-working team enter their 33rd season of competition at their lowest ebb since 1988. And unsuprisingly, due to the ongoing credit crunch, Williams is a team that has been feared for its existence being one of 4 teams that still pay for an engine supply (Red Bull, Brawn and Toro Rosso being the others) and also the demise of one of their major sponsors, Royal Bank Of Scotland and another bmajor backer, Lenovo, switching teams to McLaren.
But despite all this, the team have pressed on, they were one of the teams that began their development of their 2009 car very early after abandoning work on last seasons efforts so you could say that they are looking to take advantage of the new aero regulations, some would even say it was a big gamble as the teams future all depends on this season's efforts.
But so far during testing, the gamble looks as if it has paid off with the car showing good pace in testing, the car itself (the FW31) has some interesting features including cockpit mounted turning vanes, a bulky nose and a controversial rear diffuser design (later declared legal by the FIA) all of which have contributed to competitive performances so far, plenty to suggest they can improve on their dismal 2008 season form when despite scoring 2 podium finishes (Courtesy of Nico Rosberg in Australia and Singapore), they slumped down to 8th in the constructors championship.
Despite that, Williams have kept with the trend over the winter and kept faith with their current driver lineup of Nico Rosberg (in his 4th season with the team) and last years suprise package Kazuki Nakajima. Rosberg has been seen since his GP2 title success in 2005 as one of the most talented and level headed young drivers out there able to give consistently good performances if the car setup was right. As for Nakajima, he suprised everyone with his smooth and calm driving style enabling him to pick up points on a regular basis by driving through the field as his weak area is qualifying.
Overall, i can see Williams making a big step in improvement this season to hopefully challenge for a top 6 constructors championship placing and challenge Red Bull for the title of the best privateer team.
2009 PREDICTION FOR WILLIAMS
DRIVERS
Nico Rosberg - 9th
Kazuki Nakajima - 14th
CONSTRUCTORS
6th
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