The Williams FW27 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 which the Williams team used during the

2005 Formula One season The 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 59th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship, contested over a then-record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on 6 March 2005 and ended 16 O ...

Design and development

Overview

Like the Minardi PS05 and the

Renault R25 The Renault R25 was the Formula One car entered by Renault in the 2005 season. The chassis was designed by Bob Bell, James Allison, Tim Densham and Dino Toso with Pat Symonds overseeing the design and production of the car as executive direct ...

, the FW27 utilized a 6-speed gearbox rather than the 7-speed gearbox found on the other 2005 F1 cars. This car was the last Williams model that was powered by a BMW engine before BMW moved to

BMW Sauber BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Formula Two regulations), before building ...

and also Michelin tyres before their switch to Bridgestone tyres. The following year's model, the Williams FW28 had an engine provided by Cosworth.

Livery

BMW-Williams went into 2005 season with renewed major sponsorships such as Allianz, FedEx, HP,

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, ORIS,

Hamleys Hamleys is a British multinational toy retailer, owned by Reliance Retail. The world's oldest toy store, it was founded by William Hamley as "Noah's Ark" in High Holborn, London, in 1760. It moved to its current site on Regent Street in London's ...

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, Petrobras and

Castrol Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for co ...

. BMW-Williams received new sponsorship such as

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and discontinued sponsorships are NiQuitin Co., CCTV and Shanghai Circuit. The livery was similar to 2004 design with subtle changes.

Variants

The Williams FW27B was prepared for the purpose of testing the BMW V8 engine for the 2006 season, but Cosworth was ultimately chosen when BMW left Williams to buy the Sauber team. The Williams FW27C was prepared for the purpose of testing the 2006 Cosworth V8 engine.

Racing history

While Williams was able to compete and take a couple of victories home in recent years, the FW27 proved not to be up to the same performance levels as some of the other teams' cars. New drivers Mark Webber and

Nick Heidfeld Nick Lars Heidfeld (born 10 May 1977) is a German professional racing driver. Despite scoring regular podium finishes in with Williams Grand Prix Engineering, Williams, and in and with BMW in Formula One, BMW Sauber, Heidfeld never won a rac ...

scored points quite frequently, but a

Grand Prix Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to: Arts and entertainment ...

win was not within their reach. The highlight was the second and third places in

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

. Heidfeld also scored a second place at the

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race, where he started from pole. From 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 ...

onwards, Heidfeld, who was injured, was replaced by

Antônio Pizzonia Antônio Reginaldo Pizzonia Júnior (born 11 September 1980) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who has raced in Formula One and the Champ Car World Series. Born in Manaus, he started his car racing career in the Formula Vauxhall Junior ...

, who had previously been Webber's teammate at Jaguar in 2003. The team ended the season winless for the first time since 2000 in fifth place in the Constructors' Championship, failing to meet their own high expectations.

Other use

In September 2005, future four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel conducted his first ever test in a Formula One car in a Williams FW27.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position.)

Gallery

File:Mark Webber 2005 San Marino.jpg, Mark Webber makes a pitstop at the

2005 San Marino Grand Prix The 2005 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio Foster's di San Marino 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 April 2005 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy. The 62-lap race was the fourth round of the ...

File:Nick Heidfeld 2005 San Marino.jpg,

makes a pitstop at the

File:Mark Webber 2005 Canada (crop).JPG, Webber at the

2005 Canadian Grand Prix The 2005 Canadian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2005) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 June 2005 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The 70-lap race was the eighth round of the 2005 Formu ...

File:Heidfeld (Williams) in practice at USGP 2005.jpg, Heidfeld during the

2005 United States Grand Prix The 2005 United States Grand Prix (officially the 2005 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held on June 19, 2005, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and was the ninth race of the 2005 Formula One World Championship ...

practice session File:Mark Webber 2005 USA.jpg, Webber at the

References

Williams F1

External links

{{F1 cars 2005 Williams Formula One cars 2005 Formula One season cars