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Racing car model From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Williams FW21 was the car with which the Williams team competed in the 1999 Formula One World Championship. It was driven by German Ralf Schumacher, who had swapped from Jordan with compatriot Heinz-Harald Frentzen, and Italian Alessandro Zanardi, who had last raced in Formula One in 1994 but had since won the CART championship twice.
![]() Alex Zanardi driving the FW21 at the 1999 Canadian Grand Prix | |||||||||||
Category | Formula One | ||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Constructor | Williams | ||||||||||
Designer(s) | Patrick Head (Technical Director) Gavin Fisher (Chief Designer) Brian O'Roake (Chief Composites Engineer) Mark Tatham (Chief Mechanical Engineer) Geoff Willis (Head of Aerodynamics) Jason Somerville (Principal Aerodynamicist) Nick Alcock (Principal Aerodynamicist) | ||||||||||
Predecessor | Williams FW20 | ||||||||||
Successor | Williams FW22 | ||||||||||
Technical specifications | |||||||||||
Chassis | Carbon-fibre monocoque | ||||||||||
Suspension (front) | Williams double wishbone, pushrod | ||||||||||
Suspension (rear) | Williams double wishbone, pushrod | ||||||||||
Engine | Renault RS9 (branded as Supertec) FB01 3.0-litre V10 (71°) naturally aspirated mid-engined | ||||||||||
Transmission | Williams 6-speed longitudinal semi-automatic sequential | ||||||||||
Power | 780 hp @ 15,800 rpm[1] | ||||||||||
Fuel | Petrobras | ||||||||||
Lubricants | Castrol | ||||||||||
Tyres | Bridgestone | ||||||||||
Competition history | |||||||||||
Notable entrants | Winfield Williams | ||||||||||
Notable drivers | 5. ![]() 6. ![]() | ||||||||||
Debut | 1999 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||||
Last event | 1999 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Constructors' Championships | 0 | ||||||||||
Drivers' Championships | 0 |
This was Williams' second and final season to use Winfield sponsorship, before switching to Compaq for 2000. Williams used 'Winfield' logos, except at the French and British Grands Prix.
This was also the team's last season using a Renault engine (badged as a customer Supertec) until one was fitted in the race winning FW34 in 2012; with a new works deal with BMW being activated for the 2000 season.[2] [3]
Although Schumacher had a successful season and was a consistent front-runner with the all-new design of the FW21, Zanardi struggled all season with the handling characteristics of the then-recently introduced grooved tyres and failed to score a point. He was dropped at the end of the year in favour of Formula Three driver Jenson Button.
The team eventually finished fifth in the Constructors' Championship, with 35 points, all scored by Schumacher and thus Williams ended up with their worst season since 1990.
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position, results in italic indicate fastest laps)
Year | Team | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Points | WCC |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1999 | Williams | Supertec FB01 V10 | B | AUS | BRA | SMR | MON | ESP | CAN | FRA | GBR | AUT | GER | HUN | BEL | ITA | EUR | MAL | JPN | 35 | 5th | |
Alessandro Zanardi | Ret | Ret | 11† | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 7 | Ret | 10 | Ret | ||||||
Ralf Schumacher | 3 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 4 | 9 | 5 | 2 | 4 | Ret | 5 |
Notes:
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