Williams Launch FW24 at Silverstone

The BMW Williams team unveiled on Friday their new FW24, with which they will compete in the 2002 season, at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire.

After finishing in third place in the Constructors' Championship in 2001 with four wins, the Grove-based outfit hope that the new BMW-powered machine will allow them to enjoy a strong season this year with German Ralf Schumacher and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel.

"After four commanding victories, four pole positions and eight lap records in our second year together, our expectations for the third season are high," said team boss Frank Williams. "We have great hopes for our new chassis, the FW24, and for the new P82 BMW engine.

"Beyond that, we've got the strongest team of drivers. Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya are different personalities with different driving styles, but their goals are identical."

With the Michelin-shod FW24, which was designed by a team of engineers led by chief designer Gavin Fisher, Williams aim to have better reliability, something that hampered the team last year, especially in the first part of the season.

"If you know in advance that on some circuits you're not going to win on your own merits, then the car isn't good enough," said technical director Patrick Head. "Further improving the aerodynamics and reliability were our primary goals when it came to the FW24."

With few technical regulation changes for the new season, the goal to try to improve a car which is already in a high state of evolution was not an easy task, according to the man in charge of the design.

"In many respects, it is more stimulating for a designer if the canvass is blank when it comes to starting on the development of the next car," said Fisher. "As you progress, the opportunities for improvement are marginalised, and increasing amounts of effort must be expended for diminishing returns."

The FW24 will be powered for the third consecutive season by the BMW engine. The design of the new P82 unit, which is based on last year's engine, began in January of 2001, with the concept stage being followed by design until June. The new unit, according to the team, aims to have more power, greater reliability and less weight in the upper part of the engine to optimise the centre of gravity.

"Our first engine, the E41 of the 2000 season was a leap from zero to 90 per cent," said BMW boss Mario Theissen. "The P80 upped that to 98 per cent. And yet we will never achieve 100 per cent of what is technically possible. The benchmark shifts with every successful innovation. The crossbar is raised as you jump."

Both Montoya and Schumacher are scheduled to test the new car around Silverstone in the afternoon. The team's official test drivers, Marc Gene and Antonio Pizzonia, could not join their colleagues at Silverstone as they were on duty at the Barcelona circuit, testing with interim cars.

The first FW24 chassis presented to the press at Silverstone will travel to Spain today and will commence its first full testing sessions over the weekend and into next week.