Bite-size tech: Williams FW38 front wing mounting pillars
Williams continues to chase the leading pack, which has now been joined by Red Bull intensifying the battle behind the Mercedes.
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The FW38 follows in a lineage of Williams cars that have a low drag philosophy, albeit this has been marginalised in recent times as it looks to rectify some inefficiences in lower speed corners.
For Canada, the front wing mounting pillars have been revised, changing the movement of airflow under and around the car as they focus their efforts on a low-medium downforce configuration for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Having already revised the nose back in Bahrain they initally struggled to maximise its potential and have since made changes to the turning vanes and splitter to extract performance.
However, in Canada changes to the mounting pillars show the area is still under scrutiny and small adjustments can have a bearing on the net performance of the car.
The leading edge of pillars have been reshaped, with a much taller straight edge extruding upward from the mainplane, giving a much sharper decline to the main nose structure.
In comparison, the Monaco specification features a very short straight edge before the pillars slope back to meet with the nose. Whilst a small detail it is worth noting that some small indent lines, running from the front edge of the pillar have been added too.
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