Williams FW10

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Williams FW10

[edit] Concept

The FW10 on display at the Honda Collection Hall in Japan.

1985 marked Williams' second full season with Honda turbo power. 1984 had been difficult, as the FW09 struggled to cope with the enormous power and brutal torque curve, leading to handling problems which afflicted drivers Keke Rosberg and Jacques Laffite throughout the season. Technical Director Patrick Head thus decided to make the FW10 stiffer by making the monocoque entirely from carbon composite, rather than the aluminium honeycomb construction of previous years. This construction technique had been pioneered by the McLaren team with their MP4/1 in 1981, and was in the process of being adopted by the other teams for its combination of exceptional stiffness and lightness. In total, nine tubs were built; one was sent to Japan for Honda test driver Satoru Nakajima to drive, and one was a prototype to test the construction process. During the 1985 season, two were written off in accidents: the first when Nigel Mansell went head-on into a barrier at Detroit, the second when he crashed heavily at Paul Ricard due to a high-speed tyre blowout. The Honda engine proved to be extremely powerful, if not as reliable as the championship-winning TAG-Porsche turbo engine in Alain Prost's McLaren MP4/2B, with Head claiming around 1000-1250 bhp in qualifying, and up to 900 bhp (670 kW) in race configuration.

[edit] Racing history

The team had a much better season than in the previous two years, scoring four wins and taking third place in the Constructors' Championship. Rosberg won at Detroit early on, whilst developments to the engine in the final stages of the season saw the FW10 win the final three races. Mansell, having joined the team from Lotus at the beginning of the year, won his first Grand Prix in home territory at Brands Hatch, before following it up immediately with another win at Kyalami. Rosberg then won the last race of the season, at Adelaide. However, the team's reliability was still not as good as some of its rivals, and the car proved difficult to drive in wet conditions and at tight circuits with earlier-specification engines, such as at the Portuguese and Monaco Grands Prix. AUTOCOURSE subsequently picked the FW10 as third-best car of the year, behind the Lotus 97T and McLaren MP4/2B. The FW10 also acted as an important step up to 1986 and 1987 for the team, in which the FW11 was generally the class of the field.

Nigel Mansell driving the FW10 at the 1985 German Grand Prix, a race in which he finished sixth.

Keke Rosberg also driving the FW10 at the German GP, where he finished in twelfth place.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	WCC
1985	Williams	Honda RA 163E V6 (t/c)	G		BRA	POR	SMR	MON	CAN	USA	FRA	GBR	GER	AUT	NED	ITA	BEL	EUR	RSA	AUS	71	3rd
				Nigel Mansell	Ret	5	5	7	6	Ret	DNS	Ret	6	Ret	6	11	2	1	1	Ret
				Keke Rosberg	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	4	1	2	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	3	2	1

[edit] References

Books

Hamilton, Maurice (ed.) (1985). AUTOCOURSE 1985-86. Hazleton Publishing. ISBN 0-905138-38-4.

v • d • e Cars that competed in the 1985 Formula One season

McLaren MP4/2B • Ferrari 156/85 • Williams FW10/FW10B • Lotus 97T • Brabham BT54 • Ligier JS25 • Renault RE60/RE60B • Arrows A8 • Tyrrell 012 • Tyrrell 014 • Minardi M185/M185B • Alfa Romeo 184T • Alfa Romeo 185T • RAM 03 • Osella FA1F • Osella FA1G • Toleman TG185 • Spirit 101D • Zakspeed 841