F1 News

Williams removes paint from car to lighten up the FW44

19 April 2022 at 11:32
Last update 19 April 2022 at 12:07
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  • GPblog.com

In 2022, the weight of the cars is a big issue. Most teams are struggling to stay under the maximum weight of 798 kilograms and are therefore doing everything they can to save weight. With the Williams FW44, the differences are easy to see.

F1 teams are working hard to make their cars as light as possible in 2022. For example, Red Bull Racing would already come up with an update in Imola to make the car lighter. Williams has found a clever solution to lose weight: the team simply drives with a little less paint on the car.

Williams is a lot less blue

In the comparison made by Twitter user @LuisFeF1, you can clearly see that the FW44 in Australia is a lot less blue than it was in the test weeks. Especially on the front and rear wing the weight loss can be seen. Except for some sponsors and blue and red stripes, the carbon fiber is clearly visible on the wings.

The top of the car and the sidepods have also been modified, making the cars of Nicholas Latifi and Alexander Albon overall a lot blacker. In addition to these adjustments, a narrower font has been chosen for the numbers. The weight of the paint on an F1 car is about 1.5 kilograms and Williams seems to have removed about a quarter to a third of the paint.