With new drivers, new engineers, and a brand-new car, the BMW Williams F1 Team was determined to return to the top ranks of Formula 1 in 2005. With the introduction of new regulations and many uncertainties ahead, the Williams-BMW partnership aimed to do everything possible to avoid repeating the disappointment of the 2004 season. Long-time Team Principal Patrick Head strengthened the technical staff for the design of the new Williams FW27. Head promoted Australian engineer Sam Michael to Technical Director, a figure already familiar in Formula 1 since 1993, when the young Michael began at Lotus before moving to Jordan, where he held various roles until 2001, the year he joined Williams. After three years as Senior Operations Engineer, he stepped up to Technical Director in 2005. Another key addition was Frenchman Loïc Bigois who, after working at Ligier and Prost Grand Prix, joined Williams as Chief Aerodynamicist, replacing the underperforming Italian aerodynamicist Antonia Terzi, known for the walrus-nose FW26. The Chief Designer remained Briton Gavin Fisher, with Brian O’Roarke continuing as Chief Composite Engineer and Mark Tatham retaining his role as Chief Mechanical Engineer.
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| WILLIAMS FW27, Mark Webber Imola, San Marino GP 2005 |
Facing growing financial difficulties, the British team opted to design the FW27 primarily on the basis of wind-tunnel aerodynamic data. The result was a car with few innovative ideas, widely regarded as the least original of the 2005 season, applying the new regulations in the simplest way possible. The car featured clean, straightforward lines: only the nose, very high, arched, and slender, and the front wing, with a pronounced spoon-shaped center section, reflected the design trends of its rivals. The troublesome twin-keel concept, which had caused headaches for both drivers and engineers in 2004, was abandoned in favor of a conventional chassis. The deflector system largely followed the developments already introduced late in the previous year, and the sidepods evolved from earlier solutions, shrinking in size but avoiding the extreme choices seen on other cars. Williams was also able to significantly reduce rear bulk thanks to careful air-exit management, featuring large chimney-style outlets. The sidepods thus kept clean lines with truncated fins, no longer enclosing the space between the rear wheels. An additional profile above the gearbox was supported by extensions of the rear-wing endplates. Interestingly, in the year when engines were required to last two Grands Prix, the air intake above the roll hoop was reduced and raised as high as possible to capture cleaner airflow, also improving flow around the roll hoop itself, which featured a twin-fin arrangement. Finally, the rear-wing endplates not only supported the gearbox-top profile but also carried the characteristic curved strakes reminiscent of Toyota design.
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| WILLIAMS FW27, Nick Heidfeld Imola, San Marino GP 2005 |
The FW27 was the last Williams car to be powered by a BMW engine. The Bavarian manufacturer, convinced of the strength of its engines but increasingly skeptical about Williams chassis design, made a serious bid during the 2005 season to acquire shares in the team, an offer rejected by Frank Williams. BMW therefore turned elsewhere and completed the acquisition of Sauber, which from 2006 became BMW-Sauber, marking the German marque’s full factory entry into Formula 1, not only as an engine supplier but also as a constructor. For Williams, BMW nonetheless supplied the final evolution of its V10, the P84/5, credited with a peak output of 950 hp at 19,000 rpm. Curiously, the new FW27 paired the German V10 with a 6-speed gearbox, a step back from the 7-speed unit of the FW26, making Williams, alongside Renault and Minardi, one of only three teams still using 6-speed transmissions.
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| WILLIAMS FW27, Nick Heidfeld Hockenheimring, German GP 2005 |
The FW27, carrying a livery almost identical to 2004, was unveiled to the public on January 31, 2005, at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia. On the same occasion, the team announced its new drivers: Australian Mark Webber and German Nick Heidfeld, who was chosen over test driver Antônio Pizzonia. However, the Brazilian would later replace Heidfeld in the final races of the season. The year began with promise for the Grove outfit: Webber scored points in six of the first eight races, including a podium in Monaco, while Heidfeld reached the podium three times (third in Malaysia, second at Monaco and at the Nürburgring). Unfortunately, results declined sharply in the second half of the season. In the last five races, Heidfeld, sidelined by injury, was replaced by Pizzonia, who managed only a seventh place on his return and no further points.
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| WILLIAMS FW27, Antonio Pizzonia Shanghai, Chinese GP 2005 |
By the end of the season, Williams-BMW failed to win a race for the first time since 2000, collecting just 66 points, finishing fifth in the Constructors’ Championship but falling short of expectations and jeopardizing hopes of securing a competitive engine for the following year. Although a modified FW27 was used post-season to test the new 2.4-liter BMW V8, the Bavarian company terminated its contract and ceased engine supply to Grove. From 2006, Williams instead switched to the new Cosworth V8, initially fitted to a FW27C for early track testing. A curious footnote: on September 27, 2005, future four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel completed his very first Formula 1 test in a Williams FW27 at the Jerez circuit.
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