Williams FW18

Williams FW18

Category	Formula One
Constructor	Williams Grand Prix Engineering
Designer(s)	Patrick Head Adrian Newey
Predecessor	FW17
Successor	FW19
Technical specifications
Chassis	Carbon/Epoxy composite monocoque
Suspension (front)	inboard torsion bars operated by pushrod bellcrank, unequal-length wishbones
Suspension (rear)	inboard torsion bars operated by pushrod bellcrank, unequal-length wishbones
Engine	Renault RS8/RS8B 3000cc V10 naturally aspirated mid-mounted
Transmission	Williams 6-speed Semi-Automatic
Fuel	Elf
Tyres	Goodyear
Competition history
Notable entrants	Rothmans Williams Renault
Notable drivers	5. Damon Hill 6. Jacques Villeneuve
Debut	1996 Australian Grand Prix
Races Wins Poles F.Laps 16 (all variants) 12 12 11
Constructors' Championships	1 (1996)
Drivers' Championships	1 (1996 - Damon Hill)

The Williams-Renault FW18 is a Formula One car designed by Patrick Head and Adrian Newey for the 1996 Formula One season. Powered by a 3.0 litre Renault V10 engine, the FW18 drew heavily on the 1995 Williams car, the FW17, but featured new driver protection as regulated by the FIA for the new season. The drivers sat lower in the cockpit, which lowered the car's centre of gravity, thus aiding the handling of the car. Newey's aerodynamics placed the car well ahead of the Benetton B196s of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi and the Ferrari F310s that Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine had at their disposal.

The FW18s were driven by Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. The car proved to be the most successful of the entire 1996 field; winning 12 of the 16 races during the season, with Hill winning 8 and Villeneuve winning 4. The FW18 was also the car in which Damon Hill won the Drivers' Championship title, making him the first son of a World Champion to become a Champion himself. The FW18 was also the second of three cars during the 1990s to enjoy a 1–2 finish on its Grand Prix debut, the first being the Williams FW14B at the 1992 South African Grand Prix and the third being the McLaren MP4/13 at the 1998 Australian Grand Prix. The FW18 scored 175 points in its time and was one of the most successful Formula One cars of the 1990s.

Season performance

Jacques Villeneuve driving the Williams FW18 Formula One car at the 1996 Canadian Grand Prix. The Canadian would finish second, behind his teammate, Damon Hill. The Grand Prix was one of six occasions when the FW18s finished first and second.

Williams retained Damon Hill for 1996, who helped to develop the FW18, and the car seemed to respond well to his smooth driving style, while his new teammate, Formula One rookie Jacques Villeneuve, also quickly adapted to the FW18. The car was extremely reliable, as FW18s completed 1778 laps of a possible 2028, more than any other car that season.^[1] The car responded well to set-up changes and was competitive on all types of circuits, with at least one Williams driver, excluding Monaco and Italian Grand Prix, on the podium.

The FW18's dominance was also due in part to the recent personnel changes at rival teams. Benetton (running the B196s of Gerhard Berger and Jean Alesi for 1996), which had previously bested Williams in the past two seasons, had lost Michael Schumacher and several key technical people to Ferrari. However, Ferrari's F310s that Schumacher and Eddie Irvine had at their disposal were unreliable and it would not be until 1997 that they could challenge for the Constructor's title.

The FW18 proved to be very successful during the season, as the car won twelve of the sixteen races and won the Constructors' Championship for Williams by a comfortable margin. Hill and Villeneuve fought a good natured but close title fight between them, which was decided in the Englishman's favour at the final round in Japan after Villeneuve's car lost its right-rear wheel. This was after Williams team principal, Frank Williams, took the controversial decision to not re-sign Hill for the 1997 season. Also before the season concluded, designer Adrian Newey had been placed on "gardening leave" as he would join McLaren for 1998. The departures of Hill and Newey would signal the beginning of the end of Williams dominance in Formula One, as they narrowly won the Driver's title in 1997, and failing to win a race in 1998; although they remained competitive up until 2004, with Patrick Head at the helm of engineering.

Damon Hill demonstrating the FW18 at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix.

Hill was re-united with the FW18 14 years after his championship year, as he demonstrated the car at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. He later referred to it as his favourite car he raced.

	Williams FW18 at Goodwood Festival of Speed 2010
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Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Footnotes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Williams FW18.

Williams Martini Racing
Founders Sir Frank Williams Sir Patrick Head Team principal Sir Frank Williams Current personnel Claire Williams Pat Symonds Rob Smedley Dickie Stanford Steve Nielsen Former personnel Ross Brawn Mike Coughlan Frank Dernie Gavin Fisher Sam Michael Adrian Newey Neil Oatley Adam Parr Enrique Scalabroni Geoff Willis Toto Wolff 2016 Race drivers 19. Felipe Massa 77. Valtteri Bottas 2016 Test and reserve drivers Paul di Resta (Reserve) Lance Stroll Alex Lynn (Development) Gary Paffett (Simulator) World champions Alan Jones Keke Rosberg Nelson Piquet Nigel Mansell Alain Prost Damon Hill Jacques Villeneuve Former drivers See category Drivers' titles 1980 1982 1987 1992 1993 1996 1997 Constructors' titles 1980 1981 1986 1987 1992 1993 1994 1996 1997 Formula One cars FW06 FW07 FW07B FW07C FW08 FW08C FW09 FW09B FW10 FW10B FW11 FW11B FW12 FW12C FW13 FW13B FW14 FW14B FW15C FW16 FW16B FW17 FW17B FW18 FW19 FW20 FW21 FW22 FW23 FW24 FW25 FW26 FW27 FW28 FW29 FW30 FW31 FW32 FW33 FW34 FW35 FW36 FW37 FW38 Formula Two cars JPH1 JPH1B Le Mans prototypes BMW V12 LM BMW V12 LMR Rally cars Metro 6R4 Touring cars Renault Laguna (BTCC)