Williams FW14 - Williams FW14B

Williams FW14B

In 1992, after further development work was done to the gearbox, traction control and the active suspension system, the FW14B was the dominant car and Mansell wrapped up the 1992 Driver's Championship with a then record 9 wins in a season, whilst Patrese scored a further win at the Japanese Grand Prix. Patrese didn't warm to the car as much as the FW14, as he preferred the passive suspension in that chassis, wheras the increased level of downforce generated by the FW14B suited Mansell's aggressive driving style much better.

The result was that there were many races in the 1992 season where Mansell and Patrese would gain 2 seconds on the rest of the field, especially in the early laps, which made the FW14B was far superior to even the next best car, the McLaren MP4/7A. Another example of Williams' dominance that year was at qualifying at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, where Mansell's pole postition-winning lap was a whole 2 seconds faster than Patrese, who in turn was a second faster than 3rd placed Ayrton Senna. Williams were clear winners of the 1992 Constructors' Championship, but the season ended in acrimony as Mansell left the team after Alain Prost was signed, while Patrese moved to Benetton for his swansong season in 1993.

The FW14 won 17 grands prix, 21 pole positions and 289 points before being replaced with the FW15C for 1993. Given that current F1 regulations ban many of the technologies used by the FW14B and FW15C, these are considered among the most technologically advanced racing cars ever built.