Categories: Look backRace and classic pictures

The iconic Williams-Honda FW11

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Among the many fabulous things to see and do at Suzuka last week was an amazing display of historic cars that have been associated with the Honda brand over the years.

This is the Williams-Honda FW11, the car designed by Patrick Head and Frank Dernie which competed in the 1986 season in the hands of Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet. The car won on its first outing in Brazil, and the team that year's constructor's championship, and the following year a revised version of the car with an active suspension system - the FW11B - also saw Piquet claim the drivers' crown.

In total the FW11 and FW11B took part in 32 races and claimed 18 wins, 16 pole positions and 17 fastest laps.

Sadly, the FW11B was the last Williams car to be powered by a Honda engine. The following season the Japanese manufacturer partnered with McLaren instead despite there being a year left to run on Honda's contact with the Grove-based team.

Williams were forced to switch to a Judd engine but the new collaboration did not go well. Mansell suffered 12 retirements in 14 races in the 1988 season and his new team mate Riccardo Patrese also retired eight times. There would be no third consecutive constructors' title for Williams that year.

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.