The Williams FW35 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, ...

racing car designed and built by the Williams team for use in the

2013 Formula One season The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 64th Formula One World Championship, recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel raci ...

. It was driven by

Pastor Maldonado Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan professional racing driver, who competed in Formula One for the Williams (2011–2013) and Lotus (2014–2015) teams and as a Pirelli test driver until 2017. Before entering ...

and 2011

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and th ...

champion

Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Viktor Bottas (; born 28 August 1989) is a Finnish racing driver currently competing in Formula One for Alfa Romeo, having previously driven for Mercedes from to and Williams from to . Bottas has scored race wins and podiums. H ...

in his Formula One debut. The car was launched on 19 February at the

Circuit de Catalunya The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya () is a motorsport race track in Montmeló, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. With long straights and a variety of corners, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is seen as an all-rounder circuit. The track has stan ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, with the team using an interim version of the FW34 for the first test in

Jerez de la Frontera Jerez de la Frontera (), or simply Jerez (), is a Spanish city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, in southwestern Spain, located midway bet ...

. This was also the team's last season using a

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

engine before a new long term deal with Mercedes was activated for 2014. After an impressive 2012, which saw the team pick up their first win since 2004 at the

Spanish Grand Prix The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...

, 2013 was a massive disaster for the team, similar to 2011. The team was eliminated in Q1 mostly along with

Marussia Marussia Motors (russian: Маруся ) was a Russian sports car company founded in 2007. It was the first Russian company to produce a supercar. It designed, and manufactured prototypes of both the B1 and the B2 sport cars. Marussia was led by for ...

and

Caterham Caterham () is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. The town is administratively divided into two: Caterham on the Hill, and Caterham Valley, which includes the main town centre in the middle of a dry valley but rises to equal ...

, and failed to score a point until

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

, when Maldonado finished 10th. Bottas, on the other hand, qualified an impressive third in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, but could only finish 14th, and he failed to score a point until Austin, when he finished 8th. The team finished 9th in the Constructors’ Championship, with 5 points, their equal-worst season.

Competition history

The FW35 was faced with a difficult debut when the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

declared its exhaust system to be illegal the day the car was launched, forcing the team to revise design. Despite this setback,

and

declared themselves to be happy with the development of the car after completing its winter testing programme. However, the scheduled updates that the team introduced for the first race in Australia did not work as planned, with Maldonado declaring the car to be "undriveable", and that the team had set themselves back three years, though he did acknowledge that his struggles with the car may have been down to a combination of the characteristics of the

Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and the team's inability to find a proper car setup for the extreme conditions experienced over the race weekend. Nevertheless, the team made the decision to revert the FW35 back to its launch specification before the race.

Complete Formula One results

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

References

External links

The official Williams F1 website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams FW35 Williams Formula One cars