Williams FW25
Encyclopedia
The Williams FW25 is 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 Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

 and powered by a BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...

 V10 engine. The car was used by Williams for the 2003 championship
2003 Formula One season
The 2003 Formula One season was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 9, 2003 and ended on October 12 after sixteen races...

. Three drivers would drive the FW25 in the 2003 season, with Marc Gené
Marc Gené
Marc Gené i Guerrero is a motor racing driver, from Catalonia, Spain. He is best known as a tester for Williams and Ferrari in Formula One, Minardi Formula One driver and factory driver for Peugeot's Le Mans team, with which he won the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans...

 replacing regular racer Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher
Ralf Schumacher is a German racing driver, and the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher...

 for the Italian Grand Prix
2003 Italian Grand Prix
The 2003 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 14, 2003 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.- Classification :- Notes :*Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1.21.832...

 after the German suffered a large testing accident testing at Monza's
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, which has been hosted there since the sport's inception....

 Lesmo 1 corner prior to that race. The other regular driver Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...

 started all of the season's Grand Prix.

The design of the 2003
2003 Formula One season
The 2003 Formula One season was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 9, 2003 and ended on October 12 after sixteen races...

 Williams FW25 was a marked evolution over its predecessor, the Williams FW24
Williams FW24
The Williams FW24 was Williams F1 chassis for the 2002 F1 season. It was closely based on the previous years' FW23, and powered by a development of the ultra-powerful BMW engine from 2001...

, something that Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...

 had not done between 2001
2001 Formula One season
The 2001 Formula One season was the 52nd season of FIA Formula One racing. It featured the FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 4, 2001 and ended on October 14 after seventeen races. Michael Schumacher won the Drivers title with a record margin of 58 points, after achieving...

 and 2002
2002 Formula One season
The 2002 Formula One season was the 53rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 3, 2002, and ended on October 13 after seventeen races....

 due to the breakup of the previously successful Williams design team. New to the 2003 design team was ex-Ferrari aerodynamicist, Antonia Terzi
Antonia Terzi
Antonia Terzi is an Italian aerodynamicist who has worked for the Ferrari and Williams Formula One teams.Terzi worked in the design department at Ferrari under Rory Byrne until 2002 when she was recruited by Williams to become the team's chief aerodynamicist...

, who worked with existing designer Gavin Fisher
Gavin Fisher
Gavin Fisher was formerly Chief Designer of the Williams Formula One team. He studied mechanical engineering at Hatfield Polytechnic, which was famous for its aeronautical engineers, graduating with a first class honors degree. He was hired by Williams through an add in the media in 1988...

.

Although the car could have easily won its first Grand Prix during the Australian Grand Prix
2003 Australian Grand Prix
The 2003 Australian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on 9 March 2003 at the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit.There was a lot of speculation about how the new set of rules that debuted in this race would affect Ferrari, which were the ones to cause the changes after their dominant 2002 season....

 but for a costly spin by Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

n driver Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint...

, the car did not establish itself amongst the frontrunners on the grid until the Austrian Grand Prix where Montoya led before retiring with engine failure. Until that race, both drivers complained about understeer due to flaws in the car's design.

A new, wider front tyre introduced by Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...

 at the Monaco Grand Prix unlocked the potential of the FW25, which would win that race, score a double-podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, then go on to score dominant 1-2 victories at the European Grand Prix at the Nürburgring
Nürburgring
The Nürburgring is a motorsport complex around the village of Nürburg, Germany. It features a modern Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a much longer old North loop track which was built in the 1920s around the village and medieval castle of Nürburg in the Eifel mountains. It is located about...

, and the next race, the French Grand Prix
2003 French Grand Prix
The 2003 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on July 6, 2003 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.__FORCETOC__- Classification :- Notes :*Fastest Lap: Juan Pablo Montoya 1:15.512...

 at Magny-Cours
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some 250 km from Paris...

.

A change to the front tyre width caused by a protest lodged by Michelin
Michelin
Michelin is a tyre manufacturer based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne région of France. It is one of the two largest tyre manufacturers in the world along with Bridgestone. In addition to the Michelin brand, it also owns the BFGoodrich, Kleber, Riken, Kormoran and Uniroyal tyre brands...

's rivals Bridgestone
Bridgestone
The is a multinational rubber conglomerate founded in 1931 by in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka, Japan. The name Bridgestone comes from a calque translation and transposition of ishibashi, meaning "stone bridge" in Japanese....

, through the Ferrari team after the Hungarian Grand Prix
2003 Hungarian Grand Prix
The 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 24, 2003 at the Hungaroring. It was won by Renault's Fernando Alonso from pole, becoming at the time the youngest ever driver to win a Grand Prix, beating the previous record of Bruce McLaren...

 caused controversy through the paddock, with Williams tipped to lose their competitive edge after that race due to a slimmer tyre design being raced at the Italian Grand Prix
2003 Italian Grand Prix
The 2003 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 14, 2003 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.- Classification :- Notes :*Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1.21.832...

 at Monza
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, which has been hosted there since the sport's inception....

 being seemingly at odds with the wider tyre that Williams brought with great effect to the Monaco Grand Prix. Despite Montoya's second place at Monza, being able to stay with eventual World Champion Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...

's 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....

 throughout the whole race, the FW25 would not win a race in the final three races of the season, the Italian GP
2003 Italian Grand Prix
The 2003 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 14, 2003 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.- Classification :- Notes :*Fastest Lap: Michael Schumacher 1.21.832...

, United States GP
2003 United States Grand Prix
The 2003 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on September 28, 2003 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...

 and Japanese GP
2003 Japanese Grand Prix
The 2003 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 12, 2003 at the Suzuka Circuit.At this race Michael Schumacher won his 6th World Championship, breaking Juan Manuel Fangio's record set in the 1950s...

took place after the tyre redesign. In fact, after Montoya's second place at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza - the FW25 would not earn another podium in the 2003 season, although Montoya led the final race at Suzuka before retiring with a hydraulics problem.
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