The Williams FW08 was a Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 car designed by Patrick Head

Patrick Head

Patrick Head , is co-founder and Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team.For 25 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, and responsible for many innovations within Formula One. Head oversaw the design and construction of Williams cars until May 2004...

 which debuted at the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix

1982 Belgian Grand Prix

The 1982 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on May 9, 1982. It was the fifth round of the 1982 Formula One season.-Qualifying:...

 held at the Zolder circuit. An evolution of the FW07

Williams FW07

The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head for the 1979 F1 season. It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at Imperial College London. Some observers, among them Lotus aerodynamicist Peter Wright felt the FW07 was...

 that it replaced, the car was used by Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 driver Keke Rosberg

Keke Rosberg

Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...

 to win the 1982

1982 Formula One season

The 1982 Formula One season was the 33rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on January 23, 1982, and ended on September 25 after sixteen races. The World Drivers' Championship was won by Williams driver Keke Rosberg. Rosberg was the first driver since Mike Hawthorn in the 1958...

 World Drivers' Championship.

The FW08B was a six-wheeled (4 driven wheels at the rear and 2 undriven wheels at the front) variant that originated from the FW07D

Williams FW07

The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head for the 1979 F1 season. It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at Imperial College London. Some observers, among them Lotus aerodynamicist Peter Wright felt the FW07 was...

 (also six-wheeled). It never raced. Patrick Head specifically said that the reason it was banned was because "someone in a FOCA meeting said it would drive up costs and cause chaos during pitstops". The FIA promptly limited the number of wheels for all cars to four, of which only 2 may be driven.

The car was updated for the 1983 Formula One season

1983 Formula One season

The 1983 Formula One season included the 34th FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 13, and ended on October 15 after fifteen races. Nelson Piquet won the World Drivers' Championship, his second Formula One title and the first one ever won by a driver using a turbocharged engine...

 to become the FW08C. Under new regulations all ground effect

Ground effect in cars

Ground effect is term applied to a series of aerodynamic effects used in car design, which has been exploited to create downforce, particularly in racing cars. This has been the successor to the earlier dominant aerodynamic theory of streamlining...

s were out and flat bottom cars were in meaning nearly all the cars in F1 had to be heavily modified or replaced and the FW08 was no different. Against the turbo cars of Renault

Renault F1

Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...

, Brabham and Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari

Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....

, Williams were not expected to do as well as they did. Rosberg opened the season with pole position at the Brazilian Grand Prix

1983 Brazilian Grand Prix

The 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on March 13, 1983. It was the first round of the 1983 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :*Rosberg was disqualified for a push start in the pits...

 (the last for a Cosworth DFY engined car) and scored the cars last win with a great drive at Monaco

1983 Monaco Grand Prix

The 1983 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 15, 1983.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Alain Prost - 1:24.840*Fastest lap: Nelson Piquet - 1:27.283 on lap 69*Neither of the McLaren cars qualified...

. He would eventually finish 5th in the Drivers' Championship while Williams would finish 1983 in 4th place, the best of the Cosworth

Cosworth

Cosworth is a high performance engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in engines and electronics for automobile racing , mainstream automotive and defence industries...

 powered cars.
The FW08C was retired after the 1983 European Grand Prix

1983 European Grand Prix

The 1983 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on September 25, 1983. This race saw Bruno Giacomelli score his final championship point, and was the first race for qualified doctor and current circuit owner Jonathan Palmer...

. A third car was actually raced by the team at this race and was driven to 13th place by Jonathan Palmer

Jonathan Palmer

Dr. Jonathan Charles Palmer is an entrepreneur and former racing driver from England. Educated at Brighton College, he won the 1981 British Formula Three Championship and the 1983 European Formula Two Championship. He participated in 87 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 25, 1983...

. It was replaced by the Honda powered FW09

Williams FW09

The Williams FW09 was a Formula One car designed by Patrick Head and Neil Oatley. It was the first Williams chassis to be powered by a turbocharged Honda V6 engine, which Frank Williams negotiated a deal for towards the end of and the beginning of the season...

 for the last race of the season in South Africa

1983 South African Grand Prix

The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on October 15, 1983. It was the final race of the 1983 Formula One season....

.

Complete Formula One results

(results in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	Driver	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Pts.	WCC
	FW08	Cosworth DFY V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....  NA Naturally-aspirated engine A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...			RSA 1982 South African Grand Prix The 1982 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on 23 January 1982. Turbo-charged cars took the first six positions on the grid...	BRA 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1982 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on March 21, 1982. It was the second round of the 1982 Formula One season....	USW 1982 United States Grand Prix West The 1982 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One race held on April 4, 1982 at the temporary street circuit at Long Beach, California.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...	SMR 1982 San Marino Grand Prix The 1982 San Marino Grand Prix was the fourth race of the 1982 Formula One World Championship. It was held on the weekend of April 23–25, 1982 at the Autodromo Dino Ferrari, Imola...	BEL 1982 Belgian Grand Prix The 1982 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Zolder on May 9, 1982. It was the fifth round of the 1982 Formula One season.-Qualifying:...	MON 1982 Monaco Grand Prix The 1982 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 23, 1982.This was the first race following the death of Gilles Villeneuve at the Belgian Grand Prix; consequently Ferrari entered only one driver, Didier Pironi....	DET	CAN 1982 Canadian Grand Prix The 1982 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 13, 1982. Riccardo Paletti was killed at the start of the race, when his car ran into the back of the stationary Ferrari of Didier Pironi who had stalled on the grid...	NED 1982 Dutch Grand Prix The 1982 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on July 3, 1982.Ferrari entered Patrick Tambay to replace Gilles Villeneuve, who had been killed during qualifying a few race weekends prior, at the Belgian Grand Prix....	GBR 1982 British Grand Prix The 1982 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on July 18, 1982.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	FRA 1982 French Grand Prix The 1982 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on July 25, 1982. Six turbo-charged cars completed the first 6 grid positions, and 4 turbo-charged cars driven by 4 French drivers finished in the top 4 places, and the French Renault team finished 1-2 with René Arnoux...	GER 1982 German Grand Prix The 1982 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheimring on 8 August 1982. It was won by Patrick Tambay for Scuderia Ferrari.-Race report:...	AUT 1982 Austrian Grand Prix The 1982 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One World Championship race held on 15 August 1982 at the Österreichring in Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race was won by Lotus' Elio de Angelis, who held off Keke Rosberg's Williams to win by just 0.050 seconds, or less than half a car length.- Report...	SUI 1982 Swiss Grand Prix The 1982 Swiss Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Dijon-Prenois in France on August 29, 1982. This was the only win of the season for eventual World Champion Keke Rosberg.- Classification :-Standings after the race:...	ITA 1982 Italian Grand Prix The 1982 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 12 September 1982.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	CPL	58*	4th
				Keke Rosberg Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...					2	Ret	4	Ret	3	Ret	5	3	2	1	8	5
				Derek Daly Derek Daly Derek Daly is a former racing driver from the Republic of Ireland. He won the 1977 British Formula Three Championship, and competed as a professional racing driver for 17 years participating in 64 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on April 2, 1978. He scored a total of 15...					Ret	6	5	7	5	5	7	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	6
	FW08C	Cosworth DFY V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....  NA Naturally-aspirated engine A naturally aspirated engine is one common type of reciprocating piston internal combustion engine that depends solely on atmospheric pressure to counter the partial vacuum in the induction tract to draw in combustion air...			BRA 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix The 1983 Brazilian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jacarepaguá on March 13, 1983. It was the first round of the 1983 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :*Rosberg was disqualified for a push start in the pits...	USW 1983 United States Grand Prix West The 1983 United States Grand Prix West was a Formula One race held on March 27, 1983 at Long Beach, California.__FORCETOC__-Summary:After struggling greatly in qualifying, the McLaren team found their way on race day, as John Watson and Niki Lauda climbed from positions 22 and 23 on the grid to...	FRA 1983 French Grand Prix The 1983 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Paul Ricard on April 17, 1983. French driver Alain Prost won the race for the Renault team, and this was the French marque's 3rd French Grand Prix win in a row and the 4th in 5 seasons....	SMR 1983 San Marino Grand Prix The 1983 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Imola on May 1, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	MON 1983 Monaco Grand Prix The 1983 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monaco on May 15, 1983.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Alain Prost - 1:24.840*Fastest lap: Nelson Piquet - 1:27.283 on lap 69*Neither of the McLaren cars qualified...	BEL 1983 Belgian Grand Prix The 1983 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on May 22, 1983. After 13 years, the F1 circus returned to Spa after the track had been shortened...	DET	CAN 1983 Canadian Grand Prix The 1983 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on June 12, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	GBR 1983 British Grand Prix The 1983 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Silverstone on 16 July 1983. This was the last British Grand Prix event where the race took place on a Saturday rather than the usual Sunday.- Classification :-Standings after the race:...	GER 1983 German Grand Prix The 1983 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Hockenheimring on August 7, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	AUT 1983 Austrian Grand Prix The 1983 Austrian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Österreichring on August 14, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	NED 1983 Dutch Grand Prix The 1983 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Circuit Zandvoort on August 28, 1983.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standingsConstructors' Championship standings...	ITA 1983 Italian Grand Prix The 1983 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 11 September 1983.- Classification :- Notes :*This was the first time a Cosworth powered car failed to finish in the points since the 1967 French Grand Prix....	EUR 1983 European Grand Prix The 1983 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Brands Hatch on September 25, 1983. This race saw Bruno Giacomelli score his final championship point, and was the first race for qualified doctor and current circuit owner Jonathan Palmer...	RSA 1983 South African Grand Prix The 1983 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on October 15, 1983. It was the final race of the 1983 Formula One season....		38*	4th
				Keke Rosberg Keke Rosberg Keijo Erik Rosberg , nicknamed "Keke", is a Finnish former racing driver and winner of the Formula One World Championship. He was the first Finnish driver to compete regularly in the series. Rosberg grew up in Oulu and Iisalmi, Finland...	DSQ	Ret	5	4	1	5	2	4	11	10	8	Ret	11	Ret
				Jacques Laffite Jacques Laffite Jacques-Henri Laffite is a French former racing driver who competed in Formula One from to . He achieved six grand prix wins, all while driving for the Ligier team. He is now a TV commentator on French television TF1....	4	4	6	7	Ret	6	5	Ret	12	6	Ret	Ret	DNQ	DNQ
				Jonathan Palmer Jonathan Palmer Dr. Jonathan Charles Palmer is an entrepreneur and former racing driver from England. Educated at Brighton College, he won the 1981 British Formula Three Championship and the 1983 European Formula Two Championship. He participated in 87 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on September 25, 1983...														13

* 14 points in scored using the FW07C

Williams FW07

The Williams FW07 was a ground effect Formula One racing car designed by Patrick Head for the 1979 F1 season. It was closely based on the Lotus 79, even being developed in the same wind tunnel at Imperial College London. Some observers, among them Lotus aerodynamicist Peter Wright felt the FW07 was...

* 2 points in scored by Honda turbo

Turbocharger

A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...

 powered Williams FW09

Williams FW09

The Williams FW09 was a Formula One car designed by Patrick Head and Neil Oatley. It was the first Williams chassis to be powered by a turbocharged Honda V6 engine, which Frank Williams negotiated a deal for towards the end of and the beginning of the season...