Williams FW16

The Williams FW16 was a Formula One car for the 1994 season. It was designed by Adrian Newey around a short wheelbase chassis. The car was designed with the major regulation changes that the FIA had introduced in the off-season, banning the electronic devices that had come to dominate the cars' internal management and re-introducing refuelling into the racing.

Williams FW16

The number 0 seat was taken by Damon Hill for all of the season. The number 2 seat was taken by Ayrton Senna. The car proved to be a tricky proposition in early testing and only Senna's skill made the car competitive in the early part of the season.^{[citation needed]} A design flaw was discovered in the car's frontal section before the third race of the season^{[citation needed]}, but there was no time to do a major redesign before the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix. Senna requested some minor changes to be made^{[citation needed]}, which was carried out by Newey and Patrick Head for the race^{[citation needed]}. That weekend, Senna was killed whilst in the lead.

Williams introduced a B-spec car that was developed by Hill, but the Benetton B194 and Michael Schumacher were dominant in the first half of the season. Rookie test driver David Coulthard shared the second car with former champion Nigel Mansell (Who also had IndyCar commitments.) The engine was a Renault RS6 3.5 V10. Their main sponsor was Rothmans.

Ayrton Senna driving the FW16 at TI Circuit Aida.

The car was the first non-active suspension Williams since the championship winning FW11. Some people theorise, due to the similarities in design between the FW15 and the FW16, that the car was designed with active suspension and traction control in mind, leading to a very twitchy and floaty front end. This can be seen when Senna, pushing to close the gap between himself and Schumacher, spun out of second place during the Brazilian Grand Prix.

[edit] Williams FW16B

The revised version during the Belgian Grand Prix.

The car was updated to a 'B' specification for the German Grand Prix. This featured a longer wheelbase, revised front and rear wing and modified sidepods. Hill battled Schumacher for the championship but lost by a single point in the final race in Australia, but Hill's hard work meant that Williams won the constructors' championship that season.

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Engine	Tyre	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Points	WCC
1994	Williams	Renault V10	G		BRA	PAC	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	POR	EUR	JPN	AUS	118	1st
				Damon Hill	2	Ret	6	Ret	1	2	2	1	8	2	1	1	1	2	1	Ret
				Ayrton Senna	Ret	Ret	Ret
				David Coulthard					Ret	5		5	Ret	Ret	4	6	2
				Nigel Mansell							Ret							Ret	4	1

v • d • e Cars that competed in the 1994 Formula One season

Williams FW16 • Williams FW16B • Tyrrell 022 • Benetton B194 • McLaren MP4/9 • Footwork FA15 • Lotus 107C • Lotus 109 • Jordan 194 • Larrousse LH94 • Minardi M193B • Minardi M194 • Ligier JS39B • Ferrari 412T • Sauber C13 • Simtek S941 • Pacific PR01