The Williams FW28 was the car with which the Williams team competed in the 2006 Formula One season. The drivers were Mark Webber and rookie Nico Rosberg, the reigning GP2 Series champion. Webber was in his second year with the team, and teammate Nico Rosberg carried a hint of nostalgia, as Nico's father Keke had won the 1982 F1 championship in a Cosworth-engined Williams.
However, 2006 was very disappointing for the team. The car was dogged by a handling problem which affected the cars on the entry to corners. Despite the effectiveness of the Cosworth engine, the Bridgestone tyres and the two drivers, the FW28 could only display brief flashes of promise. Too often this promise was compromised by poor reliability - an embarrassment for a team that prided itself on engineering excellence.
The car seemed competitive at the beginning of the year when the cars scored a double points finish with Rosberg setting the fastest lap of the race on his F1 début at the Bahrain Grand Prix. An excellent second-row qualifying performance at Sepang was wasted when both cars suffered engine failures, and the season went downhill from there. Exceptions were Australia and Monaco, both races where Webber looked a contender for at least a podium finish until retiring on both occasions with hydraulics failure and an exhaust fire respectively.
A note of significance for Webber and Williams came on lap 21 of the 2006 Australian Grand Prix. By leading the lap Webber became the first Australian to have led his home grand prix since the last non-championship AGP was held in 1984.
Williams finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship - the team's lowest finish since its inaugural season in 1978. Unhappy by the team's reliability problems, Webber departed the team at the end of the season to join Red Bull Racing.
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Results
Year | Round | Country | Driver | Grid Pos | Finish Pos | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2006 | 1 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 12 | 7 | Finished |
2006 | 1 | Bahrain Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 7 | 6 | Finished |
2006 | 2 | Malaysian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 3 | 21 | Engine |
2006 | 2 | Malaysian Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 4 | 19 | Hydraulics |
2006 | 3 | Australian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 14 | 21 | Accident |
2006 | 3 | Australian Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 7 | 18 | Transmission |
2006 | 4 | San Marino Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 13 | 11 | Finished |
2006 | 4 | San Marino Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 10 | 6 | Finished |
2006 | 5 | European Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 22 | 7 | Finished |
2006 | 5 | European Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 19 | 20 | Hydraulics |
2006 | 6 | Spanish Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 13 | 11 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 6 | Spanish Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 11 | 9 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 7 | Monaco Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 8 | 19 | Accident |
2006 | 7 | Monaco Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 2 | 21 | Exhaust |
2006 | 8 | British Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 12 | 9 | Finished |
2006 | 8 | British Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 17 | 22 | Accident |
2006 | 9 | Canadian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 6 | 21 | Accident |
2006 | 9 | Canadian Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 16 | 12 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 10 | United States Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 21 | 9 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 10 | United States Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 12 | 19 | Accident |
2006 | 11 | French Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 18 | 14 | +2 Laps |
2006 | 11 | French Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 10 | 18 | Wheel rim |
2006 | 12 | German Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 14 | 20 | Accident |
2006 | 12 | German Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 11 | 13 | Water leak |
2006 | 13 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 18 | 17 | Electrical |
2006 | 13 | Hungarian Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 5 | 20 | Accident |
2006 | 14 | Turkish Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 14 | 18 | Water leak |
2006 | 14 | Turkish Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 9 | 10 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 15 | Italian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 12 | 22 | Driveshaft |
2006 | 15 | Italian Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 19 | 10 | Finished |
2006 | 16 | Chinese Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 15 | 11 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 16 | Chinese Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 14 | 8 | Finished |
2006 | 17 | Japanese Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 10 | 10 | +1 Lap |
2006 | 17 | Japanese Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 14 | 19 | Accident |
2006 | 18 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Nico Rosberg | 13 | 22 | Collision |
2006 | 18 | Brazilian Grand Prix | Mark Webber | 11 | 21 | Collision |