Williams prepares new aero package 11 Mar 2003
Buoyed by its performance in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday, after a disastrous start to its Australian Grand Prix weekend on Friday, BMW Williams is moving ahead at full speed to prepare a new aerodynamic package for its FW25.
Following the FW25's preliminary tests in Spain at the start of the season, technical director Patrick Head acknowledged: "We do have an aerodynamic problem with the car. It is not yet behaving as we would want it to. I accept that we had a problem in a similar area with the FW24 this time last year, but it isn't the same problem and we know that the FW25 is a very much better car and that its dimensions, weight distribution and concept are right."
In recent months former Lotus, Minardi and Arrows boffin Dr John Davis has been modifying Williams' existing wind tunnel at Grove, and is now overseeing its operation and the construction of an all-new facility. He is working with Antonia Terzi and Jason Summerville on modifications to the FW25 which include new bodywork for Sepang in two weeks' time, and a new undertray for Interlagos in a month's time. It is thought that part of the problem may be with the accuracy of the existing tunnel as neither the FW24 nor the FW25 performed according to predictions. The new parts will be the first product of Davis's changes to the facility.
