Williams FW28

Williams FW28
Race Car
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Williams
Designer	Sam Michael (Technical Director) Jörg Zander (Chief Designer) Loïc Bigois (Chief Aerodynamicist)
Predecessor	Williams FW27
Successor	Williams FW29
Chassis	Carbon-fibre and honeycomb composite structure
Suspension (front)	Williams carbon-fibre double wishbone arrangement, with composite toe-link and pushrod-activated torsion springs
Suspension (rear)	Williams carbon-fibre double wishbone arrangement, with composite toe-link and pushrod-activated torsion springs
Engine	Cosworth CA2006 and Toyota RVX-06 (post-season testing only) 2.4-litre V8 (90°) naturally aspirated
Electric_motor	{{{Electric motor}}}
Battery	{{{Battery}}}
Power	755 hp @ 19,250 rpm (314.7 hp/L)
Transmission	Williams 7-speed seamless-shift sequential semi-automatic
Weight	{{{Weight}}}
Fuel	Petrobas
Brakes	{{{Brakes}}}
Tyres	Bridgestone
Notable entrants	Williams F1 Team
Notable drivers	9. Mark Webber 10. Nico Rosberg
Debut	2006 Bahrain Grand Prix
Races competed	18
Race victories	0
Podiums	0
Constructors' Championships	0
Drivers' Championships	0
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	1

The Williams FW28 was the car with which the Williams team competed in the 2006 Formula One season. The drivers were Mark Webber and rookie Nico Rosberg, the reigning GP2 Series champion. Webber was in his second year with the team, and teammate Nico Rosberg carried a hint of nostalgia, as Nico's father Keke had won the 1982 F1 championship in a Cosworth-engined Williams.

However, 2006 was very disappointing for the team. The car was dogged by a handling problem which affected the cars on the entry to corners. Despite the effectiveness of the Cosworth engine, the Bridgestone tyres and the two drivers, the FW28 could only display brief flashes of promise. Too often this promise was compromised by poor reliability - an embarrassment for a team that prided itself on engineering excellence.

The car seemed competitive at the beginning of the year when the cars scored a double points finish with Rosberg setting the fastest lap of the race on his F1 début at the Bahrain Grand Prix. An excellent second-row qualifying performance at Sepang was wasted when both cars suffered engine failures, and the season went downhill from there. Exceptions were Australia and Monaco, both races where Webber looked a contender for at least a podium finish until retiring on both occasions with hydraulics failure and an exhaust fire respectively.

A note of significance for Webber and Williams came on lap 21 of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. By leading the lap Webber became the first Australian to have led his home grand prix since the last non-championship AGP was held in 1984.

Williams finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship - the team's lowest finish since its inaugural season in 1978.

Livery

Williams went into the 2006 season with renewed major sponsorships such as Allianz, RBS, FedEx, Reuters, ORIS, Hamleys, Budweiser, Petrobras and Castrol. Williams received new sponsorship such as Mobilecast, Tata Group and discontinued sponsorships are Hewlett & Packard.

FW28B

The Williams FW28B is an interim version of the FW28 the team used to prepare for the 2007 season. After an obviously disappointing 2006, Williams decided to opt for Toyota engines for 2007 and therefore built the FW28B. The car is similar to the FW28 in all aspects except for being powered by Toyota's 2006 engine, the RVX-06.

During winter practice, the team also experimented with new front wings and other aerodynamic parts which helped the development of their new car FW29 car.

Gallery

Mark Webber at the 2006 French Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.

Test driver Alexander Wurz at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.

Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Points	WCC
2006	Williams	Cosworth V8	B		BHR	MAL	AUS	SMR	EUR	ESP	MON	GBR	CAN	USA	FRA	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA	11	8th
				Mark Webber	6	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	10	8	Ret	Ret
				Nico Rosberg	7	Ret	Ret	11	7	11	Ret	9	Ret	9	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	10	Ret

References

• Henry, Alan, ed (2006). AUTOCOURSE 2006-2007. Crash Media Group. pp. 64–66. 

External links

Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

This page uses some content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Williams FW28. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Autopedia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.