Williams FW46

The Williams FW46 is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by Williams to compete in the 2024 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by Alexander Albon, Logan Sargeant and Franco Colapinto, the latter of whom replaced Sargeant for the final nine races of the season. Throughout the season, which was riddled with numerous incidents, the team scored 17 points.

Williams FW46

An FW46 driven by Alexander Albon during the Austrian Grand Prix
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Williams
Designer(s)	Pat Fry (Chief Technical Officer) David Worner (Design Director) Jonathan Carter (Deputy Chief Designer) Dave Robson (Head of Vehicle Performance Adam Kenyon (Chief Aerodynamicist)
Predecessor	Williams FW45
Successor	Williams FW47
Technical specifications
Chassis	Carbon-fibre monocoque, laminated from carbon epoxy and honeycomb
Suspension (front)	Double wishbone, push-rod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Suspension (rear)	Double wishbone, pull-rod activated springs and anti-roll bar
Engine	Mercedes-AMG M15 E Performance 1.6 L (98 cu in) direct injection V6 turbocharged engine limited to 15,000 RPM in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout
Electric motor	Kinetic and thermal energy recovery systems
Transmission	Mercedes-AMG 8 forward + 1 reverse gear seamless sequential semi-automatic shift plus reverse gear, gear selection electro-hydraulically actuated
Battery	Lithium-ion battery
Fuel	Petronas[note 1]
Lubricants	Petronas[note 1]
Tyres	Pirelli P Zero (dry) Pirelli Cinturato (wet)
Competition history
Notable entrants	Williams Racing
Notable drivers	02. Logan Sargeant 23. Alexander Albon 43. Franco Colapinto
Debut	2024 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last event	2024 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Races Wins Podiums Poles F/Laps 24 0 0 0 0

Design and development

Sargeant and Albon revealing the FW46 in New York City

The FW46 was first revealed on 5 February 2024. It featured a livery largely similar to the one run on the FW44 and FW45 cars.^[2] The car is Williams' first to utilise an on-wheel multi-function display (MFD), the previous cars having the display set on the chassis itself.

Williams changed their car manufacturing process for 2024 in an attempt to modernise its systems. This meant that Williams initially had to produce metal car parts to save time, instead of the carbon fiber that modern Formula One cars are built out of. However, this actually led to them exceeding the weight limit,^[3] and the team was losing 0.45 seconds a lap. Additionally, the usage of metal parts resulted in heavier crash damage.^[4]

Williams has raced special liveries on the FW46. For the Mexico City and São Paulo Grands Prix, Williams introduced a special Mercado Libre livery to commemorate its newfound partnership with the Argentine online marketplace. Mercado Libre became an official partner of Williams after the signing of Franco Colapinto.^[5]

Season summary

Sargeant at the Dutch Grand Prix, his last race for the team

At the season opener at the Bahrain International Circuit, Albon and Sargeant qualified 13th and 18th respectively, finishing in 15th and 20th.^[6] At the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, the drivers started 12th and 19th and finished in 11th and 14th. As there was no spare chassis available, Sargeant withdrew from the Australian Grand Prix to allow teammate Albon to use his chassis; Albon had crashed heavily in practice and the team were unable to repair his car.^[7] Albon ultimately finished in twelfth. Sargeant damaged the repaired chassis in the following Japanese Grand Prix during the first free practice session.^[8]

Sargeant was dropped from the Italian Grand Prix onwards with Williams Academy driver Franco Colapinto stepping up from his Formula 2 campaign to take his place for the remainder of the season.^[9] At Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the team achieved their first double-points finish of the season with Albon in seventh and Colapinto in eighth. In the process, Colapinto became the first Argentine driver since Carlos Reutemann to score points in 1982.^[10]

Complete Formula One results

Key
Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Other points position
Blue	Other classified position
	Not classified, finished (NC)
Purple	Not classified, retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Black	Disqualified (DSQ)
White	Did not start (DNS)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Excluded (EX)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Withdrawn (WD)
	Did not enter (empty cell)
Annotation	Meaning
P	Pole position
F	Fastest lap
Superscript number	Points-scoring position in sprint

Key

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	Grands Prix																								Points	WCC
					BHR	SAU	AUS	JPN	CHN	MIA	EMI	MON	CAN	ESP	AUT	GBR	HUN	BEL	NED	ITA	AZE	SIN	USA	MXC	SAP	LVG	QAT	ABU
2024	Williams Racing	Mercedes-AMG F1 M15 E Performance 1.6 V6 t	P	Alex Albon	15	11	11	Ret	12	18	Ret	9	Ret	18	15	9	14	12	14	9	7	Ret	16	Ret	DNS	Ret	15	11	17	9th
				Logan Sargeant	20	14	WD	17	17	Ret	17	15	Ret	20	19	11	17	17	16
				Franco Colapinto																12	8	11	10	12	Ret	14	Ret	Ret
Source:

Notes

1. Gulf Oil^[1] branding appeared on the FW46, but the car used Petronas fuel and lubricants.^[1]

References

1. "Gulf x Williams Partnership". Gulf. Gulf.
2. Basile Davoine (5 February 2024). "Williams F1 présente la livrée 2024 de sa FW46". motorsport.com. Retrieved 24 February 2024..
3. Kalinauckas, Alex (29 December 2024). "The "self-fulfilling injury" in Williams's 2024 F1 crash-fest". Autosport. [...] this was due to the initial iterations of certain chassis components – such as suspension parts – being made from metal instead of lighter carbon-fibre. This was deemed necessary because Williams changed its car build process for the year just gone, which meant parts arrived much later, as it strived to modernise its production system.
4. Noble, Jonathan (16 May 2024). "Overweight Williams F1 car costing it 0.45 seconds per lap". Autosport. [Vowles:] "However, the car this year that we've been running is about four and a half tenths a lap slower, every lap, by the fact it is still overweight." Vowles explained that the extra weight was simply a consequence of things having run so close to deadlines over the winter.
5. Basile Davoine (24 October 2024). "Yellow returns to the Williams Racing livery". Williams Racing. Retrieved 24 October 2024. The Williams Racing FW46 driven by Alex Albon and Franco Colapinto in Mexico and Brazil will feature partner Mercado Libre's statement yellow branding on the engine cover – in a nod to the team's Championship-winning heritage. [...] Mercado Libre joined Williams as an Official Partner in August after Franco Colapinto's promotion to an F1 race seat.
6. "Williams Racing Report: 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix". Williams Racing. Retrieved 3 March 2024.
7. "Albon to take over Sargeant's car for remainder of Australia GP weekend after FP1 shunt". formula1.com. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
8. Kew, Matt (5 April 2024). "Sargeant to race repaired F1 car in Suzuka; no spare Williams until Miami". Autosport.
9. "Williams Racing announces that Franco Colapinto will race with the team for the remainder of the 2024 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season". Williams Racing. 27 August 2024. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
10. "Colapinto declares points finish 'a dream come true' as Williams celebrate double success in Baku". Formula One. 15 September 2024. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 19 September 2024.