- For most teams, Formula
1 is a means to an end. It's advertising. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday. Mercedes sells luxury cars,
Ferrari sells sports cars Red Bull, they sell Red Bull. So what does Williams sell? They sell nothing. They just race. Unlike most teams,
they're not trying to win only so you'll buy something. They just wanna win. Unfortunately for them,
they haven't been doing that in a very long time. So why is one of the most
successful F1 teams ever on a decades long losing streak? Well, I think I figured out why, and it's all because once upon a time, Williams was simply too good. And today we're gonna look at the car that made them too good. Let's go. (mellow music) Thank you once again to
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McConaughey side buddy. All right, all right, all right. (soft music) Way back in 1993, Williams built the most high tech F1 car
of all time, the FW15C. It had an automatic clutch, built in telemetry sensors,
a drive by wire throttle, pneumatic valves, driver
selectable power steering, and a mess of computers, all designed to produce faster
laps than their competition. Those high tech features
are commonplace in F1 today. But three decades ago, racing
was still pretty analog and Williams in their FW15C pushed F1 into the digital world with
their NASA grade engineering. They were "The Jetsons,"
and the rest of the grid, they were "Flintstones." William! All that innovation helped me Williams win the 1993 Constructors Championship
with twice as many points as the second place McLaren,
cementing their position as the standout team of the early '90s. But the nail that stands
out often gets hammered down and Williams got hammered hard. The FIA saw the dominance
of the Williams car and knew the competition
would take years to catch up. So for 1994, they banned Williams'
most innovative features. Including analog brakes, traction control and active suspension. The FIA was so afraid
of Williams' engineers, that their unique continuously
variable transmission was banned after testing. It never even saw a race. So what made all these
high-tech features so great? Well, each of them
solve a specific problem faced by every Formula 1 team. An F1 car from any era
is a twitchy little beast that requires precision to get every last drop of
speed without crashing. Unfortunately, not all
drivers are created equal. And for every Lewis Hamilton,
there's a Nikita Mazepin. Oh, Mazepin burn. Sorry, Mazepin. You get double lapped,
you get roasted on "B2B." You guys don't like Mazepin, hit that like and subscribe button. But even for Hamilton, driving at the absolute limit of grip for an entire Grand Prix demands a huge amount of
energy and concentration. Getting tired or distracted and you might exceed
the tire's level of grip and lose control. That's when anti-lock
brakes and traction control come in to save the day. Just like a modern road
car, the FW15C's ABS system used speed sensors and computers to detect when a wheel
has stopped rotating, while the car is still in forward motion. This happens when a driver misjudges the amount of grip available
and uses too much brake pedal. The ABS computer
intervenes during a lockup and reduces the total braking force. It does this by pulsing
or rapidly applying and releasing the brakes. You might've felt this in your own car when you're panic braking
to avoid an accident or trying to stop on ice or snow, or when you're trying to avoid hitting a possum in the road. No, Pepper. No! Oh, Pepper. I have a pet possum. His name's pepper. What's that? He actually died. Reducing the total braking force allows the wheels to rotate again, and then the tires regain
traction so they can slow or turn the car. Without ABS, locked up tires just slide in whatever direction
the car was traveling, often sending it straight off the track. You can see here in this car, the wheels are actually turned. The driver doesn't wanna
go where he's heading, but without ABS, that patch of tire continuously keeps skidding
and the car pushes forward. You've seen this in F1, I'm sure. And that's part because
the FIA doesn't allow ABS. Traction control, it's in a similar boat. It has speed sensors and computers that detect when a wheel
is rotating too fast for the car's overall speed. This happens when a driver misjudges the available grip and uses
too much throttle pedal, spinning the wheels. In a rear wheel drive car like in F1, the spinning rear tires will
have less grip than the front. You do that while turning and the car could oversteer into a spin. If they have traction control, the computer would intervene
when it detects wheel spin, reducing throttle input
and slowing the wheels so the tires can regain traction and the car can safely accelerate. Now, under ideal conditions, a top level driver can
outbreak and out accelerate even modern ABS and
traction control systems. But again, trying to maintain
that level of precision for 70 laps with zero
mistakes is a challenge. The FW15C's ABS and traction control meant Williams drivers
could push harder for longer than their competition. These systems also meant
that the drivers could charge over slippery surfaces
like curbs or even grass, taking aggressive lines with less risks. But the FIA, they didn't like these fancy schmancy nerd systems. They thought this would
permit subpar drivers to achieve undeserved success, while computers took care
of the actual driving. Obviously, that's not true
since Mazepin is still in there, but the FIA wanted the
best drivers to win races, not the best engineers and programmers. So in 1994, they banned all electronically controlled driver aids, including ABS and traction control. (car engine revving) - [Narrator] Have you
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get your friend a Stocky. Let's take it to the moon, baby. (soft music) - But the FIA really
may have overestimated how much work these computers were doing. This was 1993, not a
golden age of computing. I didn't even know computers
were around in the early '90s. But I wouldn't know,
cause I was not born yet. I was born in 2001. Calculate that and you know my age. You're welcome. The first Pentium processor
had just been introduced and operated at 66 megahertz or about a 10th of the
speed of the first iPhone. In a car regularly exceeding
160 miles per hour, early computer controlled systems had a hard time keeping up. So Williams made them driver selectable. A little wheel spin is sometimes faster and good drivers know this. It was still up to the driver to know when the system should be turned on to produce better results or left off. But the success of the
FW15C was largely due to a much more sophisticated feature than its ABS and traction control. A computer controlled active suspension. These are shocks. A passive suspension
uses mechanical springs and pressurized shock absorbers that have the same spring rates, dampening force and ride
height under all conditions. Because F1 cars encounter
a wide range of speeds, corners and surfaces during a Grand Prix, a passive suspension setup
is always a compromise. They're designed to do an okay job of dealing with that range of conditions but not optimized for every one of them. They're jack of all trades,
but a master of none, like our editor, Canaan. He's a not a master at one thing. With an active suspension,
computers detect bumps, body movements and vibrations and adjust the suspension
settings on the fly to those best suited to
their immediate conditions. Now Lotus, they were
the first to experiment with active suspension by
adding components on top of typical shocks and coral springs. But the extra weight of the hydraulics and mechanical actuators,
plus the computers and sensors and all that good stuff
necessary to make it all work, it wasn't worth the trade off
and Lotus abandoned the idea. But Williams, oh no, they were determined. And their FW15C's active
suspension replaced the traditional shocks and springs with active hydro pneumatic cylinders that weighed just about the same. Now, having a separate
cylinder at each corner meant drivers could maintain
control in circumstances that would upset an
ordinary passive suspension. That's because each
wheel suspension response could be adjusted independently. So for example, if a
driver cut across the curb on a hard turn, the suspension's computer would keep the outside suspension firm to reduce body roll, while
simultaneously softening the inside to absorb the
impact and maintain grip. Now, watch Formula 1
today and you'll see cars briefly up on two wheels or even airborne from curb impacts like these. Occasionally leading to
something called an accident. You could potentially avoid
all these types of crashes with the active suspension system, making for faster and safer racing. But because of the FW15C's dominance, the FIA banned these systems in 1994. Was it because active
suspension is another form of electronic driver aid like
ABS and traction control? Well, no. Active suspension was banned because it violated a rule from 1969, which prohibited moveable
aerodynamic parts. Since the 1969 ban on
movable aerodynamic parts, lots of attempts have been
made to overcome the trade-off with aero parts that react differently in different conditions,
and that continues today. Red Bull, they were just
criticized a few weeks ago for having a rear wing that was too bendy. The only movable aerodynamics
currently legal on F1 is DRS. That's the system that opens up the rear wing for a boost of speed when a car is attempting to pass. The FW15C did not have
movable aerodynamic parts, per se, though. When it did have was a
push to pass function that created an effect a lot like DRS. Let me explain. On a high speed straight,
a Williams driver could press a button on the steering wheel that lowered the rear suspension. That adjusted the pitch of the entire car, which flattened the
angle of the rear wing, reducing its drag for better
acceleration and speed. That button was also linked to the ECU, which would temporarily increase
the red line by 300 RPM. The decreased drag and
extra power gave the FW15C a huge edge when passing other cars. But because it did this by
changing the aerodynamic profile, the FIA banned it based on that. The final innovation that
proved Williams engineers were simply too good, was their continuously
variable transmission or CVT? That transmission was
such a huge improvement, it was banned by the FIA before
it even saw a Grand Prix. So what makes a CVT so great? Infinite gears. There are a lot of infinite
things that I'd like. Infinite lives. Infinite chocolate. Infinite, you know what. But infinite gears, why
would you want that? Well, suppose your engine makes
200 horsepower at 6,000 RPM, but at 1,000 RPM, it probably
makes about 10 horsepower. That's because every
engine has a power curve and maximum power only happens
at one specific engine speed usually close to the rev limit. Now, imagine you're doing a
zero to 60 acceleration test. When you begin accelerating,
you're at 1,000 RPM. So you've got 10 horsepower. But just before first gear
runs out at 40 miles per hour, the engine is finally
spinning at 6,000 RPM. And for a sweet moment there, you've got all full 200 ponies. So what happens when you
go to upshift to second? The revs drop down to 4,000 RPM and the horsepower drops to about 100, before gradually climbing back up and making maximum power
again, right at 6,000 RPM just before 60 miles per hour, and then you shift again. You see what I'm getting at here. In the acceleration test,
your 200 horsepower engine is only making 200 horsepower
at two specific speeds. 40 miles an hour and 60 miles an hour. Now, every car using a normal transmission with just a handful of
gear ratios is like this, including F1 cars. For each gear, there's just
one specific vehicle speed where the engine is making maximum power. The rest of the time, nearly all the time, the engine is producing less than that. But what if you could
somehow infinitely adjust the gear ratio? Then you can make maximum
power all the time. And that is exactly what a CVT does. Instead of using metal
gears of various sizes to create small number of fixed ratios, a CVT sends power from
the engine to the wheels using a belt and two pulleys. Each pulley is made from
two cones that move closer or further away from each other, effectively increasing or
decreasing the pulley diameter. The difference between
the effective diameters of each pulley determines the ratio of engine speed to wheel speed. Since that difference can vary infinitely between the minimum and maximum values of those pulleys anyway, that means that the wheel speed
can increase or decrease while engine speed remains constant. A driver in an FW15C
with a CVT transmission, they don't have to compromise horsepower by selecting a few set of gears. With the CVT, they have an
infinite number of gears. So it's one less choice
that they have to make. Now, instead, the driver
can pin the engine at 13,000 RPM when it's producing
its maximum 780 horsepower and use all of that power
at any vehicle speed. The CVT manages changes in wheel speed by adjusting the pulleys to
change the effective gear ratio, leaving the engine free to stay spinning at any speed the driver wants. And as an added bonus, the
driver never has to shift gears. Something that also slows the car down. Now, Williams only tested their CVT twice before the FIA created a
rule requiring all cars to use a set number of fixed gear ratios. So what the heck, FIA? Why did you ban this sweet innovation? Well, officially they feared that such a huge engineering
change would contribute to rapidly increasing costs, as Williams' competitors
would have to spend tons of research and development to catch up. Oh, booty hoody. Now, unofficially, it was
rumored that a Williams' car with a CVT was turning
laps several seconds faster during testing than one with
an ordinary transmission. So the million dollar question is, how did all these bans
affect the Williams F1 team? At first, it wasn't too bad. William's engineers, they kept working and building winning cars, even if they were a little
boring compared to the FW15C. They managed to claim a few
more constructors championships, bringing their total to nine, the best in the world
at the end of the '90s. But since then, the standout F1 teams are the ones with the biggest budgets. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull. They have won every season but one for the past two decades. Brawn in 2009. Unlike Williams, all three of those teams have huge amounts of
income at their disposal. Each of them spent more
than $400 million in 2020. That's three times that of
what Williams can afford. Meanwhile, Williams has finished dead last the last three years in a row. So is that it for Williams? Is all hope lost for that team? Well, maybe not. See, the FIA, they
hammered down on Williams back in the '90s because they
were afraid races would be won by the best car and
not by the best driver. Nowadays, the FIA is worried
its biggest budgets teams will win races. So they've implemented
new spending cap for 2021. That cap, 145 million, which is just about what
Williams can afford. So what do you think in 2022? Is Williams gonna... Are they gonna be going to be better? I hope so. I'm sick of seeing
Mercedes win all the time. God dang it. It's the same fricking
car winning all that time. It's like me playing
tennis against Canaan. He (beep) got frigging smoked. He's not gonna quote this
on here, but he should. It would be the right thing to do. - [Announcer] Big announcement. - Donut is looking for new... Sorry, can you go back to the beginning? You guys, Donut is looking for new hosts. Do you love cars? Do you know how to work on cars? Do you have a potentially unhealthy desire to be the center of attention? Perfect. Then go here or click the
link in the description below. We're looking for the funniest
person in the pit crew, the most hilarious person in the shop. If this is you, submit to be a host. If this sounds like someone you know, encourage them to submit to be a host. The last time we did this, we met both Zach Jobe and Jeremiah. - Thank you guys so much
for watching my audition. - Hello, Donut Media. My name is Zach Jobe. - You could seriously be next. So go ahead and click that
link or send it to a friend and let's make videos about cars together. - Goodbye. - Thank you guys so much for watching this episode of "Bumper 2 Bumper." Follow me on Instagram @JeremiahBurton. Follow us on Donut here @DonutMedia. Until next week, bye for now. (soft music)
Going just by the thumbnail and its red arrows, it appears they banned that car because it has front tires, an air intake, and rear tires.
I appreciated this video as a new fan (2019) since I'm too young to be familiar with F1 history. It's pretty interesting to hear about, and they explain a lot of the concepts of the FW15C in easily understandable ways
I love donut media 🙏
Check out Past Gas podcast by Donut Media for some amazing episodes on racing history, Sena V Prost, Hamilton V Alonso and my favorite episode about Duncan Hamilton… who won the 24 hours of LeMon wasted!
This guy is annoying as fuck