The Williams FW24 was the

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 with which the Williams team competed in the 2002 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by German

Ralf Schumacher Ralf Schumacher (born 30 June 1975) is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races. Schumacher began kart ...

and Colombian

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...

, in their fourth and second seasons with the team respectively.

Design and development

The car was closely based on the previous year's FW23, and powered by a development of the ultra-powerful BMW engine from 2001, but the FW24 was aerodynamically inferior to the Ferrari F2002 and the

McLaren MP4-17 The McLaren MP4-17 was the car with which the McLaren team competed in the and Formula One World Championships. The chassis was designed by Adrian Newey, Mike Coughlan, Neil Oatley and Peter Prodromou with Mario Illien designing the bespo ...

, while the BMW engine turned out to be unreliable despite its outright power. Williams began the season with Compaq sponsorship. However, from the

2002 British Grand Prix The 2002 British Grand Prix (formally the LV Foster's British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Silverstone Circuit in Northamptonshire, England on 7 July 2002. The 60-lap race was the tenth race of the 2002 Formula One seas ...

onwards, the team had title sponsorship from Hewlett-Packard, following the merger between the two companies.

Season summary

The car proved competitive; however, the Ferrari F2002 proved to be more powerful.

scored the team's only win of the season in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

, and

finishing second saw the team register their first 1-2 finish since the 1996 Portuguese Grand Prix. Juan Pablo Montoya Pole Montreal GP 2002

Montoya set a run of five consecutive

pole positions In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

with the car in midseason (eventually getting seven during the season), and completed the then fastest lap of any circuit in Formula 1 history during qualifying, setting pole position at Monza for the

Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, Gran Premio d'Italia) is the fifth oldest national Grand Prix motor racing, Grand Prix (after the French Grand Prix, the United States Grand Prix, the Spanish Grand Prix and the Russian Grand Prix), having been he ...

(on a track that favours engine power) with a lap average of 161.449 mph (259.827 km/h), completing the lap in 1:20.264, breaking the record previously set by former Williams driver

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 ...

at the

1985 British Grand Prix The 1985 British Grand Prix (formally the XXXVIII Marlboro British Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 21 July 1985. It was the eighth race of the 1985 Formula One World Championship. The 65-lap race was won by Ala ...

at Silverstone who lapped at an average of 160.9 mph (258.9 km/h) in his

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 producti ...

turbo-powered

Williams FW10 The Williams FW10 is a Formula One car designed by Frank Dernie for use by the Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams team in the 1985 Formula One World Championship. It was powered by a Honda in Formula One, Honda RA165E V6 engine, V6 Turboc ...

. Williams finished second in the Constructors' Championship but over 100 points behind Ferrari, with Montoya and Schumacher third and fourth respectively in the Drivers' Championship.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position) Driver did not finish the Grand Prix but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

References

External links

{{F1 cars 2002 Williams Formula One cars 2002 Formula One season cars