Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe believes the team’s FW41 strikes a balance between evolution and revolution, as it strives to move up the championship table.
Williams profited from Mercedes’ power advantage over its opponents during the early years of the hybrid era, but has gradually regressed as the various engines slowly converge.
The Grove-based outfit finished fifth in last year’s standings as Lowe, who arrived from Mercedes early in 2017, evaluated the direction to take for 2018.
With relatively stable technical regulations, Lowe believes the new FW41 is still an evolution of the previous generation while taking on a new concept.
"It is very exciting to be giving everyone the first look at the FW41,” said Lowe. “It is the product of some great teamwork across the various functions in the organisation including aerodynamics design, vehicle dynamics, race engineering and systems engineering.
"The car has many new features, most of which are not all that obvious, but externally the team has pursued a very different aerodynamic concept which has allowed us some significant progress in aerodynamic performance.
"All Formula 1 cars are an evolution of what has gone before to some extent, but the FW41 does involve a number of departures from the directions that have been pursued in the past."
Lowe stressed that he has ensured the various departments within Williams have worked more closely with each other, and power unit supplier Mercedes, in order to combat the threat posed by its rivals.
"Overall, the philosophy we are starting to see emerge is a new approach to the collaboration between aerodynamics and design to achieve the optimum working result," he said.
"Aerodynamics, structure and weight are the three major trades to be made in designing a Formula 1 car, and all the work, alongside a number of radical changes to the car’s packaging to incorporate further developments from Mercedes HPP, have led us to the FW41 being revealed today."
