Williams has revealed its 2024 Formula 1 car during a shakedown run at Bahrain on the eve of pre-season testing at the same circuit.
The first public images of the FW46 mean that all 10 teams have unveiled their 2024 cars.
The FW46 rolls out in Bahrain 🤩🇧🇭 pic.twitter.com/VTxA0ytMWT
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 20, 2024
Williams's 'season launch', held earlier in February, was never going to include the 2024 car and instead presented only a revised livery for the coming season.
While suggesting the car could have run prior to its Bahrain shakedown, team principal James Vowles conceded that the car is late. That was a result of Williams "pushing everything to the limits" with significant changes in the way the car is conceived and developed to 'break' the team's outdated technology cycles.
"Those changes are enormous for an organisation, absolutely enormous," said Vowles. "Some of those have challenged us to push ourselves beyond where we wanted to be.
"You simply can't do everything at the same time, you can't change what you're doing and break technology cycles, and put yourself in a much better performance situation, without taking an enormous amount of risk."
Williams's 2023 F1 campaign was its most successful for six years as it scored 28 points and finished seventh in the constructors' championship.
Last year's FW45, though a more competitive prospect, had the same inherent characteristics of its predecessors.
While competitive at tracks with long straights that required straightline braking, it tended to struggle in long, high-speed corners or low-speed ones that demanded a combination of steering lock and braking.
Development of the 2023 car was halted in April last year to focus on the FW46, which Williams hopes will be a departure from its predecessor in how it drives on track.
Alex Albon, who led the team to seventh in the points last year, and Logan Sargeant have both been retained for 2024.
