The Williams FW38 is a Formula One racing car designed by Williams to compete in the 2016 Formula One season. The car was driven by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.
The FW38 used the Mercedes PU106C Hybrid power unit. During qualifying for the 2016 European Grand Prix, the FW38 set the highest ever recorded speed of a Formula One car during an official session, at 378kph.[1]
During the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix, the FW38 set the second highest ever recorded speed of a Formula One car during a race, at 372.5kph.[2]
Due to a lack of upgrades to the car, which was similar to the Williams FW37, the team eventually lost 4th place in the constructors' championship to Force India.
The car proved to be competitive in the early stages of the championship, with Massa and Bottas securing points finishes for the first half of the season. However, lack of upgrades on the car meant that the team could not keep up with other teams during the later stages, such as Ferrari, Force India, and Red Bull Racing, and eventually lost 4th place in the constructors' championship to Force India.
(key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | Grands Prix | Points | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | BHR | CHN | RUS | ESP | MON | CAN | EUR | AUT | GBR | HUN | GER | BEL | ITA | SIN | MAL | JPN | USA | MEX | BRA | ABU | |||||||
| Williams Martini Racing | Mercedes PU106C Hybrid | Felipe Massa | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 10 | Ret | 10 | 20 | 11 | 18 | Ret | 10 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 7 | 9 | Ret | 9 | 138 | 5th | ||
| Valtteri Bottas | 8 | 9 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 5 | 10 | 16 | 8 | 11 | Ret | ||||||