Williams FW25
Ralf Schumacher in the Williams FW25 at the U.S. Grand Prix in 2003.
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The Williams FW25 was the Formula 1 racing car of Williams for the 2003 season. He followed the Williams FW24 used in the previous season.
The V10 engine came like in the previous year by BMW. The tires turned again the French tire manufacturer Michelin.
Design
The design of the Williams FW25, which was unveiled on 1 February 2003 in Barcelona at the Circuit de Catalunya, remembered very little to his predecessors Williams FW24. The powerful BMW P83 V10 engine had a low center of gravity and made it possible to shift the center of gravity of the FW25 down. New to the design team was the former Ferrari aerodynamics specialist Antonia Terzi, who developed the design along with Gavin Fisher.
Driver
The drivers for the FW25 were again Juan Pablo Montoya (No. 3) and Ralf Schumacher ( No. 4). A race contested Marc Gené, as a replacement for the injured Ralf Schumacher was launched at the Grand Prix of Italy.
Season 2003
The Williams FW25 debuted at the Australian Grand Prix in 2003. Juan Pablo Montoya at the first race of the season showed the potential of the car. It led to ten laps to go, missed the victory, however, after a spin. At the Monaco Grand Prix Montoya made it better. He won the race after his team mate Ralf Schumacher had previously conquered the pole position. After this success, Montoya was seven times in a row on the podium. Thanks to the high reliability of the car, both drivers were in almost all race to the finish and held the world championship open until the end. Overall, Montoya and Schumacher were twelve times on the podium and were able to celebrate two double victories in a row at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring and the Grand Prix of France.
At the final race of the season in the U.S. and in Japan, BMW has a further stage of the motor. The P83 impressed now with a maximum speed of 19,000 min -1. Technical problems and a time penalty threw Montoya in the last minute of the fight for the world title. 2003 was the most successful season of Williams - BMW FW25 F1 teams and the most successful racing cars of the Anglo- German partnership. At the end of the 16 races of the season were four wins, four pole positions and four fastest laps. In the construction of rating the Williams - BMW F1 team reached the second place, 14 points behind World Champion Ferrari with 144 points.