Nigel Mansell's dominant Red 5 Williams F1 Car is going up for Sale
It was a technological masterpiece and, due to rule changes, it remains one of the most advanced F1 cars of all time.
The dominance of the Williams FW14B is undeniable, even if the tech may be called into question. It took Nigel Mansell to his first (and only) F1 world title in 1992, the first time a British had won it since 1976. It qualified on a pole position 7 times out of its 13 races. And despite facing off against Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, it set the record of 9 Grand Prix wins in a single season.
To this day, the car remains one of the most advanced F1 cars of all time due to rule changes in 1994 that banned a lot of the technology. It came with a semi automatic gearbox (which was just starting to take over), traction control, and active load-leveling hydraulic suspension. To allow all of this to work properly with the required fail-safes, Williams ended up having to come up with their own controller and their own programming.
The hydraulic load leveling suspension was initially meant to be an all mechanical system so it was a complete transformation in controls. And in an age where you can buy a programmable microchip online for next to nothing, this might not seem like much, but back in the early 90's, doing your own controls from scratch was a major undertaking.
Williams FW14B 'Red 5' suspension and hydraulic actuator - Williams F1 TV ©
The load leveling suspension was more than just an active suspension. Due to the fact that ride height was actively adjustable, it could always maintain the optimal ride height of the car for aerodynamics, regardless of corner loads and suspension movement. In other words, it had active suspension and, indirectly, aerodynamics. F1 driver Riccardo Patrese described it as working like it's always in the wind tunnel.
Going beyond even the active suspension's inherent capabilities, the system allowed Williams to create a form of a Drag Reduction Systems (DRS). They noticed in testing that their active suspension car was actually slower at the end of straights by 2-3 km/h (1-2 mph) compared to their passive suspension car. They had already decided to run the active suspension car because it was working so well and it was posting quicker overall times but they wanted to gain every advantage possible so they looked further into the root cause.
They found that the passive suspension car was "stalling"; a term used in aerodynamics engineering to describe lift or downforce elements such as spoilers, wings, spoilers, etc. losing effectiveness due to their angle of attack changing. Because the passive suspension car changed its ride height in response to suspension loading, it caused the stall condition which resulted in reducing drag and allowing the passive car to reach higher speeds. To allow the active car to stall, they introduced a manual override to drop the ride height of the car, essentially creating the first DRS.
You can watch the 6 minute Williams F1 video below about what went into development which is just astonishing. It was so dominant that it allowed Nigel Mansell to secure his title a whole 5 races before the end of the season. And its designer - Adrian Newey - is still active today as Chief Technical Officer of the Red Bull Racing team, speaking volumes of his relevance.
It has been owned by a single private owner since Williams originally sold it and has been dormant until 2017. Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok took it out for Williams' 40th anniversary celebration at Silverstone and the Renault V10 and hydraulic active suspension are reportedly working properly.
How much will it go for?
The car is being auctioned by Bonham, which is no stranger to historic F1 cars. Bonhams sold Ayrton Senna's McLaren-Ford MP4/8 last year for €4.2 million which won him the Monaco Grand Prix. That is roughly £3.8 million in today's money ($4.8 million USD). The record for the most money paid for an F1 car is £5.6 million ($7.3 million USD) for Michael Schumacher’s 2001.
That should give a ballpark for what something like this might go for. Bonham isn't providing an estimate, but there's speculation that it will go for close to £3 million ($3.9 million USD) according to Motorsport magazine. If you want a chance to bid, it will be at this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard on 5th July.
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Comments (6)
to think where the f1 cars would be today if their development were similarly unfettered by the regulations in effect today. consider the speed increases in processing and the advancement of the sensor units alone.
there are some that would argue(and so it was in the time of this car)that the driver would be irrelevant or at the least, not having to possess the level of skill because: tech.
yes, i know,i have complained ad nauseum about the tech in modern day cars but consider this: the tech in the f1 cars didn't involve distractions like the cars of today are famous for(infotainment/climate controls/self piloting capabilities). they controlled ride height/braking/rudimentary torque vectoring/aero control. that's a whole 'nuther planet the way i see it. the drivers would be able to push the cars harder than otherwise would be possible and learn things about dynamic response & grip that drivers today don't really have a clue about(much like the daredevils of days past vs drivers of today).
f1 used to be the pinnacle of development...the type space programs learned from. yeah,it was expensive then but now due to material advancements,production processes and the progression of computational systems those previously astronomical costs have come way down. today there are forced parables drawn between the f1 cars and cars that drive the roads everyday(appliances) and that has,at least in my eyes, diminished the sport both in development and spirit. hell...there are supercars that you can tag and drive legally on public roads that will outrun and sometimes,even out handle some of the f1 cars now fielded and that is the saddest commentary of all. the limits are not being pushed. hell..they are being pushed back on purpose and because of that, can one really call this racing?
same thing has happened to nascar and look at where that particular venue is now. chrysler corp had the superbird and it ran over 200 mph for one season...it's debut season and was hauled back technologically because it had an "unfair advantage". seems every time someone has a truly better idea someone cries foul instead of catching up or developing something better and the sanctioning body capitulates to the lowest common denominator by outlawing the process or mod and to me...that sucks!
hail to the Williams FW14B and the team who put it together. i will remember those days well.
Nice article man 😂
I am absolutely not one to argue about drivers being irrelevant with technology that improves speed (I'm certainly against traction control, but that's another issue). I've driven plenty of cars on track and it is far easier to drive a slow...
Read moreFrank Williams even labeled it as "the bionic car"
-Diego Martinez, F1 technical analyst (Univision, 1991)
That’s incredible. I can only imagine the experience of those who jumped into it after driving a “regular” F1 car at the time. Thanks Eduardo!
Please tell me a Brit will buy this car for all that is holy if its taken from the country well that's it for good old Blighty....