The Williams FW34 was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racing car Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including ...

Williams F1 Williams Racing, legally known as Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited and competing as Atlassian Williams Racing, is a British Formula One team and constructor. It was founded by Frank Williams (Formula One), Frank Williams (1942–2021) ...

for the

2012 Formula One season The 2012 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 66th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 63rd FIA Formula One World Championship, a motor racing series for Formula One cars, recognised by the Fédération Internatio ...

Design

Following their worst season in their thirty-year history—in which they finished ninth in the World Constructors' Championship with just five points—the team underwent a technical review, employing former

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

designer

Mike Coughlan Michael Coughlan (born 17 February 1959) is a British motor racing engineer and designer. He was Chief Designer for the McLaren Formula One team from to , where he was suspended for his part in the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy between ...

(having served his suspension for his role in the

2007 Formula One espionage controversy The 2007 Formula One espionage controversy, also known as Spygate and Stepneygate, was a set of accusations among Formula One racing teams that confidential technical information had been passed between them. It involved the McLaren, Ferrari an ...

) as Chief Designer, and promoting Jason Somerville to Head of Aerodynamics. The FW34 used the Renault RS27-2012 engine; the team had previously used Renault engines between

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

and

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

. The car, which was launched on the 7 February 2012, was driven by

Pastor Maldonado Pastor Rafael Maldonado Motta (; born 9 March 1985) is a Venezuelan former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Maldonado won the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with Williams. After winning the GP2 Series in 2010 with Rapax, Maldona ...

and

Bruno Senna Bruno Senna Lalli (; born 15 October 1983) is a Brazilian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . In endurance racing, Senna won the 2017 FIA World Endurance Championship in the LMP2 class with Rebellion. Born and raised ...

Racing history

At the

2012 Spanish Grand Prix The 2012 Spanish Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Santander 2012) was a Formula One motor race held on 13 May 2012, at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Circuit de Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain, attended by 82,000 peo ...

, Maldonado drove the FW34 to pole position and converted it to victory the next day. It was Maldonado's first and only Formula One race win, Williams' first race win since

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to , IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grand ...

won the

2004 Brazilian Grand Prix The 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix (officially the Formula 1 Grande Prêmio do Brasil 2004) was a Formula One motor race held on 24 October 2004 at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace. It was Race 18 of 18 in the 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship. I ...

driving an FW26, and Williams' most recent race win as of February 2025.

Livery

Drawing the inspiration from the Rothmans-sponsored FW19 of 1997, the blue colour on the engine cover was flipped along with other minor changes.

PDVSA Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (acronym PDVSA, , English language, English: Petroleum of Venezuela) is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as e ...

was retained for the second year with new sponsorships from Procter & Gamble products (

Gillette Gillette is an American brand of safety razors and other personal care products including shaving supplies, owned by the multi-national corporation Procter & Gamble (P&G). Based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, it was owned by The Gil ...

and

Head & Shoulders Head & Shoulders (H&S) is an American brand of anti- dandruff and non-dandruff shampoo produced by parent company Procter & Gamble. The active anti-fungal ingredient in Head & Shoulders is piroctone olamine or zinc pyrithione, with some "cl ...

Gallery

File:2012 Australian Grand Prix 08.jpg, Bruno Senna 2012 Australian Grand Prix Practice, 16 March 2012 File:Bruno Senna 2012 Malaysia Qualify.jpg, Bruno Senna 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Qualifying, 24 March 2012 File:Pastor Maldonado 2012 Malaysia FP1.jpg, Pastor Maldonado 2012 Malaysian Grand Prix Practice, 23 March 2012 File:Bruno Senna 2012 Australian Grand Prix.jpg, Bruno Senna spinning at the start of the 2012 Australian Grand Prix

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed greater than 90% of the race distance.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams Fw34 Williams Formula One cars