<< Prev Page 2 of 2 The championship winning FW07B was carried over for the 1981 and the successful driver pairing was also left unchanged. Reutemann continued the good form with a win in the opening round of the season at Kyalami in South Africa. Changes were required after that race as the sport's governing body decided to ban moveable skirts in an attempt to slow the cars down through the corners. The immediate answer was the Williams FW07C, but the team wasted precious time that season to create an active suspension system that would make sure the fixed skirts were attached to the road at all time. Eventually the team got the car sorted and Williams ended the season with four wins and another constructor's cup. Jones won the last race of the season, which would also be his last Formula 1 race as the 1980 World Champion hung up his helmet at the end of the year.
As had become tradition, the new 1982 Williams did not debut until a few races into the season. Before the FW08 was debuted, two second place finishes were scored with the FW07C. The new car followed the FW07's design, but was more compact and aerodynamically efficient as it was designed specifically for the fixed skirt regulations. Jones' replacement Keijo Rosberg scored just one victory, but in this tragedy struck season, it proved enough to claim the driver's championship. Williams finished only fourth in the constructor's standings. The reason why the FW08 was so compact became apparent at the end of the season as Williams was caught testing a six-wheeled variant with four rear wheels. Ase on the famous Tyrrell P34, the Williams six-wheeler could run smaller wheels that created less drag. Another advantage was the increased length that allowed for large Venturi tunnels. It was never raced as the FIA banned six-wheelers starting in 1983.
Dubbed the FW08C, the 1983 Williams looked sufficiently different that it might have warranted a new type indication. A closer look revealed that it was in fact a FW08 stripped off its ground-effects body, which included massive side-pods. The reason for this big change was the complete ban of ground-effects for that season. The cornering speeds achieved were deemed too high, so all cars now featured a flat bottom and small side-pods. Rosberg again scored a single victory, but this time it was nowhere near good enough to claim the driver's title. Williams again finished fourth as the forced induction engines had now really taken over. Having realized this, Williams signed a deal with Honda to supply the British team with their turbocharged V6 engine for the 1984 season. First tested in the fall of 1983, the Honda engined FW09 would be the start of another successful chapter in Williams' history.
Having served the team well for five seasons, Patrick Head's FW07/08 has gone into history as one of the sport's all time greats. The car was instrumental to establish Williams as a serious Formula 1 manufacturer after remaining one of the many F1 kit-car builders that came and went in the 1970s. Especially early in its career there was nothing to match the Cosworth engined FW07s and toward the end of its career the reliability of the package brought the team wins and points that did not seem likely at the start of the race. << Prev Page 2 of 2
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The championship winning FW07B was carried over for the 1981 and the successful driver pairing was also left unchanged. Reutemann continued the good form with a win in the opening round of the season at Kyalami in South Africa. Changes were required after that race as the sport's governing body decided to ban moveable skirts in an attempt to slow the cars down through the corners. The immediate answer was the Williams FW07C, but the team wasted precious time that season to create an active suspension system that would make sure the fixed skirts were attached to the road at all time. Eventually the team got the car sorted and Williams ended the season with four wins and another constructor's cup. Jones won the last race of the season, which would also be his last Formula 1 race as the 1980 World Champion hung up his helmet at the end of the year.