The second-chance evolution of a 2019 failure

After lodging its worst-ever Formula 1 points haul in 2019, Williams enters the new decade with renewed focus and vigour. Additions to the technical team unite with a tweaked driver line-up for 2020, and the new Aquafresh livery adorning the FW43 certainly gives the team a fresher outlook.

This year should hopefully have none of the negative spirals surrounding the team that embroiled its pre-season last year. The car is on time, there have been no acrimonious departures of senior technical staff from the team, and the latter-season infighting between Williams and Robert Kubica is now off the menu.

All things point to Williams getting a free run at turning around its form. One thing Williams has not been tempted to do is throw the baby out with the bathwater. The FW43 is, for all intents and purposes, an evolution of the FW42 - and the team spoke openly about a two-year development cycle last year.

Most of 2019 was spent troubleshooting - essentially, it was an expensive year off testing, and Williams needs that to bear fruit for 2020.

"We have paid significant attention to understanding the problem areas of the FW42," said design director Doug McKiernan, "and we have carefully chosen parts of the car to develop, those that would give us the most performance for the resources we have.

"The main concept behind the FW43 is that it is a continuous development of the FW42, with no fundamental concept changes to the layout. The most important indicator that we are on the right path will be the level of correlation we have between the tool kit we use to design the car and what the track data is telling us."

Sure, while there are similarities to its forbearer, the package has been tightened up and there are a number of smaller details that point to a much more optimised machine than last year's car.

On the launch-spec FW43, the front wing shown is much the same as that with which Williams ended last season. For those final flyaways, the team introduced its own version of an inboard-loaded wing geometry, mounting the outboard sections below the notch in the endplate to improve the amount of airflow turned around the front of the car. That also includes a tiny little flick at the end of the footplate, which trips the air upwards and outwards.

Although the nose remains in largely the same configuration, Williams has extended the cape section it used at the end of last year and managed to create a set of turning vanes further back, which seem to integrate with it more adeptly. That should not only boost front-end downforce, but also assist the bargeboards further back by keeping energised airflow within a certain zone.

Further details at the front end include the redesigned camera pod mountings, with the addition of the small horns at the front of the chassis bulkhead - which make use of a small box in the regulations intended for the chassis-to-nose transition. These horns are noticeably cambered to turn airflow outwards.

The FW43 brings with it a greater number of elaborations around the car; the team has finely honed the aero package, and have hopefully addressed all of the issues that made last year's car so difficult to drive

The front suspension components have received some attention too, and last year's rather ungainly top wishbone mounting to the upright has been tightened up significantly. Williams continues to make use of the pushrod bracket to steady the ride height under cornering.

Although the bargeboards and turning vanes are vastly similar to last year's car, there are some interesting additional details. On top of the boomerang, there are six flow conditioners which fire air at the sidepod undercut, aiming to improve the flow to the rear of the car.

The sidepods, particularly the leading edge, have been tightened up too and gives the aerodynamicists more area to play with down the flanks. Those sidepods have a distinguished channel over the top, sending airflow to the floor and energising the air passing through the Coke bottle section to assist with working the diffuser.

The engine cover also has a much larger shark-fin, suggesting that Williams has been able to address its packaging for the benefit of improving its aero. Although the midriff does look more bulbous than some of its counterparts, the car still looks a lot tighter than last season. Looking at the serrations and cuts in the floor, there also appear to be a number of extra slots to help drive airflow out and protect the diffuser.

Although the launch renders showed the FW43 with a small winglet between the rear wing mounts, George Russell turned in his first laps with a squared-off T-wing attached to the base of the engine cover.

The rear wing itself doesn't look distinctly different to last year's, although the endplates feature a Red Bull-style single strake rather than the trio used by Williams last season. That said, there are plenty of additional cuts at the bottom of the endplate to control the airflow at the rear of the car more readily.

Ultimately, the FW43 brings with it a greater number of elaborations around the car; the team has finely honed the aero package, and have hopefully addressed all of the issues that made last year's car so difficult to drive.

The Mercedes power unit remains, and so Williams has something to rely on - but ultimately, the team must be able to make the most of it.

The noise from the team is reassuring too, and Williams' late show in testing last year put the team colossally on the back foot, especially as manufacturing issues plagued its preparations. Hence the decision to take evolution rather than revolution for 2020 also means that the team won't have to roll back on 'innovative' design solutions that later emerge to be illegal - which it experienced last year with its mirrors and suspension design.

"There has been a healthy development rate in the wind tunnel," McKiernan added, "and we have found reasonable improvements in the cooling efficiency.

"The team has addressed the mechanical issues that affected it in 2019, these include the brakes and the overall weight of the car. We have made some good progress across these areas and will continue to focus on them during the season."

Williams won't experience the change overnight that turns last-row lockouts into consistent Q3 appearances, but should hopefully give the team more ammunition to make it to the points more often than last season.

With Formula 2 graduate Nicholas Latifi partnering sophomore Russell, the two should pull the team in the same direction and help the team rebuild from the ground up.

One thing's for sure: Williams' 2020 can't be any worse than last year.