The streak of winning cars designed by Adrian Newey since his arrival at Williams in 1991 continued with the FW18, one of the most successful single-seaters in Formula 1 history, boasting 12 victories, 6 second places, 2 third places, 12 pole positions, 11 fastest laps, and 1,778 laps led out of 2,028 completed in the 1996 season. In short, these staggering figures bring to mind the untouchable McLaren MP4/4 of Prost and Senna or, more recently, the dominant Mercedes of Hamilton and Rosberg. The 175 points earned by the FW18, a record for Frank Williams’ team, were the result of two years of work, with roots in the already strong FW17 from 1995. That season, Newey decided to launch a completely new project, one that deviated entirely from previous models.
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| WILLIAMS FW18, Damon Hill Buenos Aires, Argentinian GP 1996 |
With its simple lines, high and slender nose, elegant profile, two large bargeboards, full-width front wing supported by two thin pillars, and a rear wing connected to the flow deflectors in front of the wheels, the FW18 looked like a car that could be drawn with eyes closed, so harmonious were its lines. The design was largely based on the previous FW17, a car far superior to its rivals but which failed to deliver the expected results due to a series of errors, sometimes gross, by both drivers, a psychological fragility in team leader Hill when up against the Schumacher/Benetton pairing, and a flawed team strategy that did not enforce clear driver hierarchies. Coulthard, theoretically the second driver, often finished ahead of Hill.
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| WILLIAMS FW18, Jacques Villeneuve Montecarlo, Monaco GP 1996 |
After bringing the “B” version of the FW17 to the track at the end of the ’95 season, Adrian Newey, serving as chief designer, and Eghbal Hamidy as head aerodynamicist, both under the technical leadership of Patrick Head, further refined the car for 1996. They created the FW18, which featured a new chassis with a lower center of gravity and was equipped with torsion bar suspension in a push-rod configuration, both front and rear. Powering the new car from the Grove-based team was once again the Renault V10 engine, now evolved into the RS8 version, delivering 700 hp at 14,500 rpm in race trim and up to 760 hp at 16,000 rpm in qualifying trim. This was coupled with an advanced Williams-built six-speed semi-automatic gearbox. The car’s particularly effective mechanics, combined with highly efficient aerodynamics and the powerful Renault V10, made the FW18 vastly superior to the competition, thanks also to the intense development work done by Hill and third driver Jean-Christophe Boullion in the months leading up to the season, covering 9,000 kilometers of testing.
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| WILLIAMS FW18, Jacques Villeneuve Estoril, Portuguese GP 1996 |
Alongside the confirmed British driver Hill came another second-generation racer, fresh from winning the American CART championship: the young Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, son of the late Gilles. Thanks to the FW18’s ease of handling, Villeneuve, despite being a rookie in European open-wheel cars, quickly developed a good feel for the car. In the opening race of the season at the Melbourne circuit in Australia, he took pole, recorded the fastest lap, and led the race until five laps from the end, when he was forced to relinquish the lead to Hill due to an oil leak on his car. In the next two races, Hill’s FW18 again crossed the finish line first, followed by a victory for Villeneuve in the fourth round, and another win for Hill at Imola, demonstrating the sheer dominance of the British car. Only Schumacher, with his Ferrari, managed to keep the championship remotely competitive, though in the middle part of the season five more consecutive wins by the Williams drivers dashed any hopes of a rival challenge.
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| WILLIAMS FW18, Damon Hill Monza, Italian GP 1996 |
Hill and Villeneuve battled for the title until the final race, where Hill eventually became World Champion for the first and only time in his career, becoming the first second-generation driver to win the title, 28 years after his father Graham. Ironically, just before clinching the title, the British driver was informed that his contract would not be renewed. He would be replaced by the young German Heinz-Harald Frentzen, while Newey was preparing to move to rival team McLaren-Mercedes, leaving behind the FW19, Williams' last car capable of winning a world title.
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