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The Williams FW09 was a Formula One car designed by Patrick Head, Frank Dernie and Neil Oatley. It was the first Williams chassis to be powered by a turbocharged Honda V6 engine, for which Frank Williams negotiated a deal towards the end of 1982 and the beginning of 1983.
Honda was already supplying the small Spiritteam for 1983, but was enthusiastic about supplying Williams, who not only had the reigning World Champion Keke Rosberg as lead driver, but were one of the leading constructors in Formula One who had previously won both the Drivers' and Constructors titles on two occasions, a résumé that neither Spirit nor their young Swedish driver Stefan Johansson could match. Williams had agreed to help develop the engine under Grand Prix race conditions. Spirit folded shortly afterwards.[1]
Overview[]
1983[]
The chassis was built from aluminium with |carbon fibre used at stress points and was based on the reasonably successful 1983 Williams FW08C. The engine cover had to be redesigned as the car was powered by a smaller, but more powerful (850 bhp (634 kW; 862 PS)) V6 engine rather than the 530 bhp (395 kW; 537 PS) Cosworth V8 engine that powered the FW08C. The front of the car was also redesigned giving the car cleaner aerodynamics.[2] The FW09 was introduced at the South African Grand Prix, the last race of the 1983 season, which was nothing more than a shakedown exercise. Rosberg showed the potential of both car and engine by qualifying sixth and finishing in fifth place while team mate Jacques Laffite started 10th (after failing to qualify the old car at the previous European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch), but spun off under braking for Crowthorne Corner at the end of the long main straight on lap two, his car ending up in the tyre barrier and out of the race.[3]
1984[]
The car was then raced in the 1984 season by Rosberg and team mate Laffite. Both drivers found extra power of the engine to their liking, but not the chassis which suffered from the sudden bursts of power that the Honda gave, upsetting the balance of the car- and the engine power delivery was so abrupt that parts of the 1.5L Honda block were actually found to have twisted during the race. Furthermore, the car body was found to produce a lot of drag at high speeds.[4] The problems with the 1984 chassis were noted by broadcaster Clive James, opining in FOCA's season review video that "Rosberg had managed to make the Williams look driveable, which everyone including Frank Williams knew it really wasn't".[5]
Keke Rosberg won the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix in a Williams FW09
Reliability was also a problem, with Laffite only recording five finishes during the whole season, but the basic speed was there with the Honda powered FW09 consistently among the fastest cars through the speeds traps on many tracks despite the car itself producing high drag. Indeed, both drivers recorded a top speed of 310 km/h (193 mph) in qualifying and the race at the 1984 South African Grand Prix (although it wasn't as fast as the Brabham-BMWs which recorded 325 km/h (202 mph) in qualifying). Rosberg had a more successful year than Laffite, managing to tame the car's unpredictable handling by winning the attrition-filled Dallas Grand Prix for his and the team's first win since the 1983 Monaco Grand Prix, and giving Honda its first Formula One Grand Prix win since John Surtees won the 1967 Italian Grand Prix at Monza and its first win with a turbo engine.[6]
Race Victories[]
| Year | Event | Driver | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | 1984 Dallas Grand Prix |  Keke Rosberg
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Complete Formula One Results[]
| Complete Formula One Results | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| Car | Tyre | Driver | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Pts. | Pos. |
| 1983 | 
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| FW09 | G | Rosberg
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5th | 2 | 11th | |||||||||||||||
 Laffite
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Ret | |||||||||||||||||||
| 1984 | |
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| FW09 | G | Rosberg
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2nd | Ret | 4th | Ret | 6th | 4th | Ret | Ret | 1st | 25.5 | 6th | |||||||
| Laffite
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Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8th | 8th | Ret | 5th | 4th | |||||||||||
| FW09B | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14th | |||||||||||||
| Rosberg
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Ret | Ret | Ret | 8th | Ret | Ret | Ret | |||||||||||||
Reference[]
- ↑ "Spirit Racing". https://www.f1technical.net/f1db/teams/103. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ Delaney, Michael (11 May 2017). "WILLIAMS : 40 YEARS OF F1 IN 11 CARS". https://f1i.com/magazine/267771-williams-40-years-f1-11-cars.html. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ↑ "Keke Rosberg". 7 July 2014. https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1983/36/keke-rosberg. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ↑ "Williams FW09". 14 June 2018. https://www.wi77iams.com/williams-fw09/. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
- ↑ 'Two Till The End' (1984) – VHS – EAN: 5017559030650 – Publisher: Duke Video – Studio: Formula One Constructors Association
- ↑ "Williams FW09 (1984) pictures". https://www.racefans.net/pictures/cars/williams/williams-fw09-1984-pictures/. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
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| Drivers 2.  Logan Sargeant · 23.  Alexander Albon · 43.  Franco Colapinto
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| Personnel Frank Williams · Patrick Head · Pat Symonds · Mike Coughlan | |||
World Champions Alan Jones (1980) · Keke Rosberg (1982) ·  Nelson Piquet (1987) ·  Nigel Mansell (1992) · Alain Prost (1993) · Damon Hill (1996) ·  Jacques Villeneuve (1997)
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| Cars March 761 · FW06 · FW07 · FW07B · FW07C · FW07D · FW08 · FW08C · FW09 · FW09B · FW10 · FW10B · FW11 · FW11B · FW12 · FW12C · FW13 · FW13B · FW14 · FW14B · FW15C · FW16 · FW16B · FW17 · FW17B · FW18 · FW19 · FW20 · FW21 · FW22 · FW23 · FW24 · FW25 · FW26 · FW27 · FW28 · FW29 · FW30 · FW31 · FW32 · FW33 · FW34 · FW35 · FW36 · FW37 · FW38 · FW40 · FW41 · FW42 · FW43 · FW43B · FW44 · FW45 · FW46 | |||