The Williams FW10 is a

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

car designed by

Frank Dernie Frank William Dernie (born 3 April 1950) to James Harold Dernie and Monica Dernie (née Pacey) is a veteran British Formula One engineer with extensive Formula One motorsport experience. Career Dernie was brought up in Lancashire and educated at ...

for use by the Williams team in the 1985 Formula One World Championship. It was powered by a

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

RA165E V6

turbo In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

engine and driven by Briton

Nigel Mansell Nigel Ernest James Mansell, (; born 8 August 1953) is a British retired racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship (1992) and the CART Indy Car World Series ( 1993). Mansell was the reigning F1 champion when he moved over ...

and Finn

Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg (born 6 December 1948), known as "Keke" (), is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series, as well as the first Finnish ...

. An upgraded version of the car, dubbed the FW10B, was introduced late in the season, which enabled the team to win the final three races of the year.

Concept

1985 marked Williams' second full season with

power. had been difficult, as the FW09 struggled to cope with the enormous power and brutal torque curve, leading to handling problems which afflicted drivers

and

Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite (; born 21 November 1943) is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six Grand Prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. From 1997 to 2013, Laffite was a presenter for TF1. ...

throughout the season. Technical director

Patrick Head Sir Patrick Michael Head (born 5 June 1946) is a British motorsport executive who is the co-founder and former Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team. For 27 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineer ...

thus decided to make the FW10 an all-new car- making the

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

entirely from much stiffer

carbon Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an element is the measure of its combining capacity with o ...

composite, rather than the

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...

honeycomb construction of previous years - the first Williams F1 car ever to be made predominantly of this material. This construction technique had been pioneered by the

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

team with their MP4/1 in , and was in the process of being adopted by the other teams for its combination of exceptional stiffness and lightness. In total, nine FW10 tubs were built; one was sent to Japan for Honda test driver

Satoru Nakajima is a Japanese former racing driver. He is a five-time Japanese Top Formula champion, and was the first full-time Japanese Formula One driver. Accordingly, he is responsible for several firsts for Japanese drivers in Formula One, including bei ...

to drive, and one was a prototype to test the construction process. During 1985,

wrote off two cars in accidents: the first when he went head-on into a barrier at

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, the second when he crashed heavily at

Paul Ricard Paul Louis Marius Ricard (; July 9, 1909 – November 7, 1997) was a French industrialist and creator of an eponymous pastis brand which merged in 1975 with its competitor Pernod to create Pernod Ricard. Ricard was also an environmentalist and t ...

due to tyre blowout at over , unwittingly setting the record for the highest-speed crash in Formula One. The Honda engine proved to be extremely powerful, with Head claiming around 1000–1250 bhp in qualifying, and up to in race configuration.

Racing history

The team had a much better season than in the previous two years, scoring four wins and taking third place in the Constructors' Championship. During the early part of the season the cars made do with upgraded 1984 engines. Honda introduced a completely new RA165-E engine at Montreal, which had smaller turbos (with a very small drop-off in power which was recovered thanks to improved engine and turbo technology), and instantly the cars were on the pace, with both Rosberg and Mansell expressing delight in the power of the new engine and how much easier it was to drive being less 'peaky' with a much smoother power delivery. Rosberg won in Detroit, whilst further developments to the engine in the final stages of the season saw the FW10B win the final three races of the season which allowed Williams to snatch third place in the Constructors' Championship on a count-back from Lotus. Mansell, having joined the team from Lotus at the beginning of the year, took his first F1 victory on home soil at

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently host ...

for the

European Grand Prix The European Grand Prix (also known as the Grand Prix of Europe) was a Formula One event that was introduced during the mid-1980s and was held every year from to , except in . During these years, the European Grand Prix was held in a countr ...

, and immediately followed it up with his second, in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Rosberg then took his second win of the season, and his fifth and final victory overall, at the last race of the season in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. During qualifying for the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World C ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

, Rosberg lapped the circuit in his FW10 in a time of 1:05.591 for an average speed of , the first time a Formula One car had broken the 160 mph barrier for a qualifying lap. This record would stand until . Rosberg's achievement was made more impressive by the fact that he was running on slick qualifying tyres at a time when the track was damp from light rain, and he also had a deflating tyre for most of the lap. ''

Autocourse ''Autocourse'' is a series of annuals covering motor racing, and Formula One in particular. The annuals cover a long period of the sport's history, from 1951 to the present day, and, as such, are highly collectible. History The first edition o ...

'' picked the FW10 as the third-best car of 1985, behind the

Lotus 97T The Lotus 97T was a Formula One racing car designed by Gérard Ducarouge and built by Team Lotus for use in the 1985 Formula One World Championship. A development of the previous year's 95T, the car was powered by the turbocharged 1.5-litre Re ...

and the McLaren MP4/2B, and the chassis also won ''

Autosport ''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One World Championship. Autosport began life as a weekly magazine in 1950 ...

'' magazine's "racing car of the year" award. The FW10 also acted as an important step-up for the team to and , in which the FW11 was generally the class of the field. The FW10 was the first Williams car to sport the distinctive yellow, blue and white livery that the team would use until the end of the season. File:Mansell - Williams 1985.jpg,

driving the FW10 at the

1985 German Grand Prix The 1985 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Nürburgring on 4 August 1985. It was the ninth race of the 1985 Formula One season. This was the first German Grand Prix that was held on the new GP-Strecke section of the tra ...

, in which he finished sixth. File:Keke Rosberg Williams FW10 1985 German GP.jpg,

driving the FW10, also at the German Grand Prix, in which he finished twelfth. File:1985 European GP Nigel Mansell01.jpg, Mansell during practice for the 1985 European Grand Prix, at which he took his first F1 victory.

Complete Formula One results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap.)

References

;Books * {{Williams 1985 Formula One season cars Williams Formula One cars