Williams FW28

The Williams FW28 was the car that the Williams team competed in the 2006 Formula One season with. 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 speedy 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 which prides 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 engine failures. The team finished eighth in the Constructors' Championship, with 11 points.