F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Lowe: Williams 'pushing to the limit' for big step forward

Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe says that he's fired up by the opportunities in store for the team in 2018.

“It’s going to be an exciting year," predicted Lowe. "The FW41 is the product of some great teamwork."

"All Formula 1 cars are an evolution of what has gone before to some extent, but the FW41 does involve a number of departures from the directions that have been pursued in the past.

"[It's] a great opportunity for the team to get closer to the front, we believe.

In particular, he said a new approach to aerodynamics on the car had led to a big step forward in performance.

"The car has many new features, most of which are not all that obvious," he explained.

"But externally the team has pursued a very different aerodynamic concept which has allowed us some significant progress in aerodynamic performance.

Lowe added that the new car represented "a new approach to collaboration between aerodynamics and design to achieve the optimum working result."

He said that new developments around the barge board has been a particular focus of the team's off-season work.

"In common with our competitors, this area presented new opportunities in the 2017 regulations and has been considerably further developed for 2018.

"There are also a number of radical changes to the car’s packaging to incorporate further power unit developments from Mercedes.

Overall, Lowe is hoping to see real and tangible improvements on-track right from the start of the season.

"We had an aggressive programme but this was a decision we made to ensure we have the quickest car we possibly can," he said. "[It's] ready for the start of the season and we are pushing everything to the limit.”

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.

Recent Posts

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

25 mins ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

2 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

3 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

4 hours ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

5 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

6 hours ago