WILLIAMS FW12 Judd

   For the 1988 season, the Canon Williams Team brought the Williams FW12 to the track, a transitional car that was a simple adaptation of the previous FW11B to accommodate the new naturally aspirated Judd V8 engine. At the end of the 1987 season, after winning his third and final title, Piquet decided to leave Williams due to the now untenable relationship with teammate Mansell and moved to Lotus. The Brazilian's departure coincided with Williams also losing their V6 twin-turbo Honda engines, which they had used from the end of 1983 through 1987. Already the previous year, Honda had begun supplying engines to Lotus, and for the 1988 season, they also reached an agreement with McLaren. Not wanting to supply more than two teams, Honda chose not to continue with Williams, favoring Lotus instead, who had just signed Piquet to replace Senna, who had moved to McLaren.

WILLIAMS FW12, Martin Brundle
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgian GP 1988

   Among the reasons for the breakdown in the relationship were Honda's lack of confidence in Mansell and Williams' refusal to hire Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima, as explicitly requested by Honda. This split explains why the FW12 was unable to compete at a high level. In theory, Honda was still contractually obligated to supply Williams with engines for another year, under a contract renewed in previous years. To avoid heavy penalties, Honda formally honored the contract by paying for the supply of a naturally aspirated V8 originally developed by Honda about ten years earlier for a potential entry into Formula 1, but which was then further developed and managed by Judd for use in Formula 3000. While this engine could perform at a high level in the lower category, in Formula 1 it stood no chance against the turbo engines, permitted for the last time in 1988, nor even against the Cosworth DFZ.

WILLIAMS FW12, Nigel Mansell
Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1988

   The Judd CV V8, also used in 1988 by March and Ligier, was in fact quite heavy and based on an outdated design, originally conceived to rev at a maximum of 9,000 rpm as per Formula 3000 regulations. Moreover, Judd did not develop the engine further during 1988, as they were already working on a new V8 that would be supplied exclusively to March the following year, March having fully funded the new engine’s development. The Williams FW11, which had been designed to house the Honda V6 turbo, was revised by engineers Patrick Head, Frank Dernie, and Enrique Scalabroni, adapting the chassis mounts to fit the new 3.5-liter V8 engine, which was much larger and heavier than the Japanese turbo unit. This created installation challenges and weight distribution issues. Although it ran cooler than the old turbo, the Judd engine had less space under the bodywork, which was now very tightly fitted around the engine, leading to problems with heat dissipation.

WILLIAMS FW12, Riccardo Patrese
Jacarepaguà, Brazilian GP 1988

   Aerodynamically, the car changed only slightly in the nose, which was now lower, and in the design of the sidepods, which could be slightly smaller thanks to the absence of the heat exchangers needed for the turbo. Another significant issue for Williams was Head’s stubbornness in persisting with the active suspension system introduced in 1987, believing it would improve performance by ensuring better car balance. In practice, the system had the opposite effect, adding around 25 kg of weight to the car and draining more power from the engine, which then achieved an embarrassingly low top speed, well under 300 km/h. Mid-season, Head decided to revert to a more traditional mechanical suspension system, which restored a minimum level of competitiveness to the car, though the results remained very disappointing for a reigning world champion team. In the 16 races of the season, Italian driver Riccardo Patrese saw the checkered flag only 8 times, scoring points in 5 races and totaling 8 points. Returning driver Nigel Mansell, on the other hand, collected 12 retirements and only two finishes, both on the podium, earning 12 points. During the season, after contracting chickenpox, Mansell was replaced by Martin Brundle in Belgium and Jean-Louis Schlesser in Italy.

WILLIAMS FW12, Jean-Louis Schlesser
Monza, Italian GP 1988

   A quirky note: the Italian Grand Prix driven by Schlesser marked the Frenchman's only Formula 1 appearance, which ended dramatically when, two laps from the end, during a lapping maneuver, he collided with Senna’s McLaren, forcing Senna to retire while calmly leading the race. Because of this retirement, McLaren was unable to complete a clean sweep in 1988, a season in which they won all 15 of the other races. As for Williams, by the end of the championship, the Grove-based team had scored only 20 points, placing seventh in the Constructors' Championship, behind even Arrows and March.