The Williams FW48 finally took to the track on Wednesday with a shakedown at Silverstone before heading to Bahrain pre-season testing, which starts next Wednesday (February 11th) in Sakhir.
The most immediate takeaway from seeing Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz shaking down the new car was the clarification of a point which was deliberately concealed during the reveal of the livery: the suspension design.
Williams kept under wraps until the last possible moment whether it was be running a combination of push and pull rod suspension, or, as most rival teams have gone for, double push rod across the front and rear.
Ultimately, Williams opted for the former: a mixed design including front pull rod and rear push rod suspension.
The upper triangle of the front suspension is strongly inclined, thus creating the anti-dive feature pioneered by Red Bull in 2023 and then taken to the extreme by McLaren in 2025. The system is designed to increase front stability under braking to create a more stable platform and not have the front of the car submarine down when the brakes are applied.
Also interesting is the design of the front wing. It is very well-profiled with the various elements that create deflections for the air in the lower part of the wing profile.
Elsewhere, the air intake and sidepods make the FW48 appear as a fairly standard car, with the objective of covering as much mileage as possible in Bahrain, with the initial bulk of the programme in Sakhir being the final validation of the packaging and understanding of the new power units and recovery and deployment of energy.
The race against time to arrive in Melbourne for the season-opener with as much mileage and data has begun.
Also interesting:
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