The Williams FW31 was 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, ...

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

car, designed and built by

Williams F1 Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, currently racing in Formula One as Williams Racing, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded by former team owner Frank Williams and automotive engineer Patrick Head ...

. The ''

AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the world's largest telecommunications company by revenue and the third largest provider of mobile tel ...

Williams'' team used the FW31 to compete in the

2009 Formula One season The 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 63rd season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 60th Formula One World Championship which was contested over 17 events commencing with the on 29 March and ending with the ina ...

. The car was unveiled on 19 January 2009 at the

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve The Algarve International Circuit ( pt, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road tra ...

circuit in southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, and was first driven by the team's test driver

Nico Hülkenberg Nicolas Hülkenberg (, born 19 August 1987) is a German professional racing driver who is scheduled to make a full-time racing return to Formula 1 with Haas F1 Team in 2023, after serving as a reserve driver for Aston Martin F1 Team for the yea ...

. It was a mid-field runner, in contention for points on many occasions when driven by Rosberg, but rarely contending for podiums. Rosberg could have finished in third position at Marina Bay during the

2009 Singapore Grand Prix The 2009 Singapore Grand Prix (formally the 2009 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix) was a Formula One motor race held at the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore on 27 September 2009. The 61-lap race was the fourteenth round of the 2009 Form ...

if he had not run wide on the exit of the pit lane and received a penalty. Rosberg was criticised for failing to achieve a pole position while topping the times in practices on numerous occasions, notably at the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix - the Williams cars had excelled during practice sessions in wet conditions, but did not produce the same level of performance in qualifying. While Rosberg often scored points, and elevated the car to a finishing position that it was considered incapable of, Nakajima failed to score a point all season and possibly cost the team a higher position in the championship standings than the seventh place they eventually achieved. The Williams FW31 was the first British F1 car to use

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (the phonetic p ...

-branded fuel since 1973, as well as the first Williams F1 car to use

Mobil 1 Mobil 1 is a brand of synthetic motor oil and other automotive lubrication products. Originally developed by the Mobil oil company, it is now globally marketed and sold by ExxonMobil. Mobil 1 engine oil was introduced in 1974. The brand range no ...

lubricants since 1988 season, as they had been using

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...

brands since 1999.

Diffuser controversy

At the first race of the season, an official complaint was launched by other teams against the rear diffusers of the Williams FW31,

Toyota TF109 The Toyota TF109 was a Formula One racing car engineered by Toyota for the 2009 Formula One season. The chassis was designed by Pascal Vasselon, Mark Tatham and Mark Gillan with the engine being designed by Luca Marmorini and Noritoshi Arai over ...

and the

Brawn BGP 001 The Brawn BGP 001 (originally known as the Honda RA109) is a Formula One world championship winning racing car, the design of which was started by Honda Racing, and completed and then built by the team after it was renamed to Brawn GP. It was t ...

saying that they were illegal, but after analysing the cars, the FIA reported that the cars were not illegal. The teams appealed and after much deliberating the car were deemed legal by the FIA.FIA deem diffusers legal
BBC Sport. 2009-04-15. 2009-04-15

Season review

The Williams FW31 was a slight improvement compared to previous FW28-30 cars as the team tried to get used to the major new rules in 2009. Rosberg proved to be a consistent challenger for points, though he could not clinch a podium finish. It could have been a 2nd consecutive podium finish in Singapore for Rosberg, who was running 3rd before a pit-stop. After the pit-stop, his car ran wide, causing a drive through penalty. The safety car was sent out on track, and he could not serve his penalty until the safety car was called in, ending his chances of a podium finish.

Gallery

File:Nico Rosberg 2009 Germany 2.jpg, Nico Rosberg at the 2009 German Grand Prix, July 2009 File:Nakajima Williams FW31.jpg, Kazuki Nakajima during Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying, 9 May 2009 File:Nico Rosberg 2009 Turkey 2.jpg, Nico Rosberg at the 2009 Turkish Grand Prix, June 2009 File:Kazuki Nakajima 2009 China.jpg, Kazuki Nakajima in the wet at the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix, 19 April 2009 File:Williams duo 2009 Japan.jpg, Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima at 2009 Japanese Grand Prix, 4 October 2009 File:Williams FW31 in garage.JPG, Mechanic working on Nico Rosberg's Williams FW31 during practices on Friday of 2009 Turkish Grand Prix File:Williams FW31 front wings.JPG, Front wings outside Williams garage between two 2009 Turkish Grand Prix Friday practice sessions File:Williams FW31 Australia practice.jpg, The Williams team practice pit stops during Australian Grand Prix Friday Practice, 27 March 2009 File:Button Rosberg 2009 British GP.jpg, Nico Rosberg and

Jenson Button Jenson Alexander Lyons Button (born 19 January 1980) is a British racing driver. He won the 2009 Formula One World Championship when he drove for the Brawn GP team. After his F1 career, he became champion of the 2018 season of the Super GT ...

at the 2009 British Grand Prix, Silverstone, 21 June 2009

Formula One World Championship 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) Driver failed to finish, but was classified as they had completed >90% of the race distance.
Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance completed.

Other

The Williams FW31 was featured in the racing simulations '' F1 2009'' and ''

iRacing ''iRacing'' is a subscription-based online racing simulation video game developed and published by iRacing.com Motorsport Simulations in 2008. All in-game sessions are hosted on the publisher's servers. The game simulates real world cars, tr ...

''.

References

External links

AT&T Williams F1: Car
– ''Official team website''. {{F1 cars 2009 Williams Formula One cars 2009 Formula One season cars