People seem to forget how good Keke was 82-85. Won the title with that underpowered car. 83 and 84 Williams was completely uncompetitive. It was like 40 km/h slower on straights than Brabham, McLaren and Ferrari. Keke won two street circuit races with that pig of a car (Monaco 1983 and Dallas 1984 were impressive drives) and beat Laffite 13-1 and 14-1. 1985 he was probably the fastest man on the grid and made Mansell look like an amateur. Williams got faster 1985 but the car wasn't reliable. Then 1986 hampered his reputation. The McLaren was designed for Prost and Keke couldn't drive that car because it was so understeery. Great driver, very underrated champ.
I was lucky to see Rosberg race in many a time in the Williams from 82 to 85 . Was always 110% comitted. His drive at Dijon in 82 chasing Prost over the last 10 laps unreal.
@@karlstannard662 The most impressive Keke drive was the Silverstone 1978 non-GP race, which he won in a Theodore in torrential rail. A car that was so slow that it couldn't qualify to normal races. But it was a crazy rain, crazy race. Check that out, it's on TH-cam.
It might have been underpowered but that made it so much more reliable than a turbo engine and keep getting points nice and steady has proven to be better than winning a couple of races at least back then but it is a beautiful car for sure and Kiki was good no doubt about that
40 km/h slower on the straight than the McLaren? McLaren were powered by the DFV like Williams were that season. I think you meant Renault, who like Brabham and Ferrari had turbo engines. The FW08 was certainly not a pig of a car- it was clearly fast, and the C-spec ‘83 car was the quickest of all the non-turbo cars that year- but the FW09, with that badly under-engineered and volatile Honda engine was a pig of a car.
@@hmdwgf Yes in 1982 McLaren's were Cosworths. But they got the TAG/Porsche turbo engine for 1983 whereas Williams only got their Honda turbo for the last race of 1983 for Kyalami. And even in 1984 it was way inferior, unrealiable and slow. And even Patrick Head admitted the 1983 and 1984 cars were horrible. 1985 Honda turbo got the power but Keke had 5 1st place DNF's that season. He left Williams just when the car got good in 1986. Cheers.
I'll never forget Keke Rosberg driving this car and chasing like crazy on Elio De Angelis' Lotus at the old Osterriechring on the last few laps trying to win that race back in 1982.
I started watching F1 properly in 1980/81 when Villeneuve was the guy you wanted to watch on track. Come 1982 following his arrival at Williams, Keke became the other guy you wanted to watch. Always entertaining and never leaving anything out there. I feel sad that his Championship is overlooked by some due to him only winning the one race (in Dijon, I was there) and because of the tragedies of that year, Paletti, Villeneuve and Pironi. I was lucky enough to be present for Keke’s first two GP wins and for his Brands Hatch Race of Champions win. My F1 hero.
I wasn't even alive then but I've watched that race and it must have been incredible to see it in the flesh. One of the best races I've seen. Another amazing race of Keke was the Dallas 1984 GP. Crazy underpowered Williams with bad chassis (even Patrick Head admitted the 1984 car was rubbish). Keke won Dallas GP with that sh*tbox. He was one badass driver.
@@detonator2112 that 1984 Williams was like a truck. How he won that race on it I’ll never know. The track was falling to pieces. Everyone was going off. Keke didn’t.
Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable dissertation. In the day the Williams team was a juggernaut David against the Goliaths. Keke was a legend. it was like 5am in the morning in Australia when he clinched the world championship at Caesars palace, i'll never forget that. There was a time when Williams had the best race/win ratio. Vale Frank
Wow, that is just so cool and brings back memories watching F1 back in those days. It's amazing to see these cars in HD vs the small telly I was watching as it happened.
Awesome editing and video but what really makes the video work is how Sam interacts with us - completely down to earth, knowledgeable and always with a smile on his face - please TH-cam show this to more people. And I had no idea the FW08 had a 6-wheel variant, althought from some angles it makes me think a bit of the stance that those 90's Formula Ford have, thanks to the skinny and small rear wheels! Also, the driver cam is pretty awesome. Keep it up Sam!
Hey Alvaro, nice to hear from you. Thanks for your nice message, really glad you enjoyed it. By all means share with your Classic Racing School community!;)
Another wonderful film to sit down to and enjoy my morning coffee with. As always, the enthusiasm shon through, expert driving, fantastic visuals and in car footage too. A real pleasure to watch, I really hope you’re able to keep doing this kind of thing. So many people doing this stuff these days but few people as as genuine, talented and easy to watch as yourself. Here’s to big things coming!
100% the best racing channel on youtube right now, actually just car channel period. Infectious passion, expert knowledge with the best description of driving I've ever heard, delivered with with incredible humbleness and sense of gratefulness. Your Apex & Collecting Cars Podcast interviews were fantastic, the truest modern day incarnation of a true (pro) gentleman racer. Literally the only thing that would make the onboard footage marginally better would be a picture in picture footcam (best motoring style). May be tough to squeeze a GoPro in the footwell of an old F1 car though. Keep it going and hope you get more incredible racecar commissions to make amazing content from. MG Lola LMP2 Next?!
Thanks so much Alexander, I really appreciate that. And, yes, I totally agree about a footwell cam, I've always enjoyed those. But you're right, wasn't so easy to fit (or light) in this car, but will def keep in mind for future films for sure. Thanks for watching, and commenting.
Sam, thanks for making and sharing these films. I realise that it adds a lot of extra work to what must already be a very busy workday for you....but we really, really appreciate your energy and passion, and your oh-so-articulate description of what makes these old, iconic race cars so special.
The air speeds up through the narrowest part of the sidepods, not where it expands further back. This car couldn't have sliding skirts as they had been banned and the 1982 cars relied on very stiff suspension to maintain a constant ride height with the fixed skirts just contacting the ground. Ground effect cars from that period only work properly when the skirts are sealing the side pods, so I'm sure if the car was run in it's proper configuration you'd feel even more downforce. Without proper skirts air is sucked in from the sides. As you touched on early in the video, the reason the car is so short and quite tall is to accommodate the extra length of the car in its original intended form of six wheels (i.e. a shorter, taller fuel tank). The six wheel format had three aims: one to reduce the drag of the large rear wheels; two to have four wheel drive and three to extend the ground effect tunnels. Such a shame it didn't compete for a season in six-wheeler form. I was at Brands Hatch in 82 when Keke stuck the car on pole but the car refused to fire up on the formation lap and Keke had to start from the back. His drive through the field was spectacular until it came to an end. One other thing you could do with the six wheeler is run front and middle axles with rain tyres in wet conditions with a set of slicks on the back axle running on dry tarmac cleared of water by the front four wheels and adding to the grip levels. Great fan of Keke, but this was a season when he lucked into the championship. Good for him, but really Villeneuve, Pironi or Prost ought to have been champion that year. I also wondered what Alan Jones would have done in this car because he was mighty in 1981, if he'd carried on in the same vein, he too may well have earned a second title. I'm sure the fact that the cars had to run with a very stiff suspension set up was a contributory factor in both Gilles and Didier being launched high into the air during their accidents, together with the large under floor area. Back to FW08: also one of my favourite cars, I love that era, although I'm not sure that they were that pleasant to drive.
One question. I've noticed that both 1982 and 1983 models of FW08 had a narrower rear wheel span, while the front wheel span was wider. I'd like some more information about the reasons behind that. Was it something to do with steering?
Always loved this car, it's livery and the flying Finn who drove it to ultimate victory.
People seem to forget how good Keke was 82-85. Won the title with that underpowered car. 83 and 84 Williams was completely uncompetitive. It was like 40 km/h slower on straights than Brabham, McLaren and Ferrari. Keke won two street circuit races with that pig of a car (Monaco 1983 and Dallas 1984 were impressive drives) and beat Laffite 13-1 and 14-1. 1985 he was probably the fastest man on the grid and made Mansell look like an amateur. Williams got faster 1985 but the car wasn't reliable. Then 1986 hampered his reputation. The McLaren was designed for Prost and Keke couldn't drive that car because it was so understeery. Great driver, very underrated champ.
I was lucky to see Rosberg race in many a time in the Williams from 82 to 85 . Was always 110% comitted. His drive at Dijon in 82 chasing Prost over the last 10 laps unreal.
@@karlstannard662 The most impressive Keke drive was the Silverstone 1978 non-GP race, which he won in a Theodore in torrential rail. A car that was so slow that it couldn't qualify to normal races. But it was a crazy rain, crazy race. Check that out, it's on TH-cam.
It might have been underpowered but that made it so much more reliable than a turbo engine and keep getting points nice and steady has proven to be better than winning a couple of races at least back then but it is a beautiful car for sure and Kiki was good no doubt about that
40 km/h slower on the straight than the McLaren? McLaren were powered by the DFV like Williams were that season. I think you meant Renault, who like Brabham and Ferrari had turbo engines. The FW08 was certainly not a pig of a car- it was clearly fast, and the C-spec ‘83 car was the quickest of all the non-turbo cars that year- but the FW09, with that badly under-engineered and volatile Honda engine was a pig of a car.
@@hmdwgf Yes in 1982 McLaren's were Cosworths. But they got the TAG/Porsche turbo engine for 1983 whereas Williams only got their Honda turbo for the last race of 1983 for Kyalami. And even in 1984 it was way inferior, unrealiable and slow. And even Patrick Head admitted the 1983 and 1984 cars were horrible. 1985 Honda turbo got the power but Keke had 5 1st place DNF's that season. He left Williams just when the car got good in 1986. Cheers.
I'll never forget Keke Rosberg driving this car and chasing like crazy on Elio De Angelis' Lotus at the old Osterriechring on the last few laps trying to win that race back in 1982.
He left massive rubber marks going up the hill!
I started watching F1 properly in 1980/81 when Villeneuve was the guy you wanted to watch on track. Come 1982 following his arrival at Williams, Keke became the other guy you wanted to watch. Always entertaining and never leaving anything out there. I feel sad that his Championship is overlooked by some due to him only winning the one race (in Dijon, I was there) and because of the tragedies of that year, Paletti, Villeneuve and Pironi. I was lucky enough to be present for Keke’s first two GP wins and for his Brands Hatch Race of Champions win. My F1 hero.
@@ljw5768 wow!!! You lucky bastard!!!! What a character Keke was and still is.
I wasn't even alive then but I've watched that race and it must have been incredible to see it in the flesh. One of the best races I've seen. Another amazing race of Keke was the Dallas 1984 GP. Crazy underpowered Williams with bad chassis (even Patrick Head admitted the 1984 car was rubbish). Keke won Dallas GP with that sh*tbox. He was one badass driver.
@@detonator2112 that 1984 Williams was like a truck. How he won that race on it I’ll never know. The track was falling to pieces. Everyone was going off. Keke didn’t.
Thank you sooo much for this video M. Hancock. I am 62 and it brings back so many memories ! You are a very good driver too !
You are very welcome 🙏🏻
This is one of the best racing videos I've ever seen on TH-cam. Thank you so much for making this video - what a masterpiece!
That's so kind, thank you, am glad you enjoyed it and appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Thank you for a thoroughly enjoyable dissertation. In the day the Williams team was a juggernaut David against the Goliaths. Keke was a legend. it was like 5am in the morning in Australia when he clinched the world championship at Caesars palace, i'll never forget that. There was a time when Williams had the best race/win ratio. Vale Frank
I had goose bumps watching this. I saw every race that year. Thanks for bringing back wonderful memories.
incredible videos you have. It's a shame you don't have more viewers. You trully deserve that Sam
I appreciate that! Thank you 🙏🏻
Wow, that is just so cool and brings back memories watching F1 back in those days. It's amazing to see these cars in HD vs the small telly I was watching as it happened.
Awesome editing and video but what really makes the video work is how Sam interacts with us - completely down to earth, knowledgeable and always with a smile on his face - please TH-cam show this to more people.
And I had no idea the FW08 had a 6-wheel variant, althought from some angles it makes me think a bit of the stance that those 90's Formula Ford have, thanks to the skinny and small rear wheels!
Also, the driver cam is pretty awesome. Keep it up Sam!
Hey Alvaro, nice to hear from you. Thanks for your nice message, really glad you enjoyed it. By all means share with your Classic Racing School community!;)
Another wonderful film to sit down to and enjoy my morning coffee with. As always, the enthusiasm shon through, expert driving, fantastic visuals and in car footage too. A real pleasure to watch, I really hope you’re able to keep doing this kind of thing. So many people doing this stuff these days but few people as as genuine, talented and easy to watch as yourself. Here’s to big things coming!
That's super kind, thanks Matt, really nice to hear that and glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully plenty more of these to come.
What a phenomenal video. Seeing you so ecstatic whilst driving this legendary car made me smile.
Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!
100% the best racing channel on youtube right now, actually just car channel period. Infectious passion, expert knowledge with the best description of driving I've ever heard, delivered with with incredible humbleness and sense of gratefulness. Your Apex & Collecting Cars Podcast interviews were fantastic, the truest modern day incarnation of a true (pro) gentleman racer.
Literally the only thing that would make the onboard footage marginally better would be a picture in picture footcam (best motoring style). May be tough to squeeze a GoPro in the footwell of an old F1 car though. Keep it going and hope you get more incredible racecar commissions to make amazing content from. MG Lola LMP2 Next?!
Thanks so much Alexander, I really appreciate that. And, yes, I totally agree about a footwell cam, I've always enjoyed those. But you're right, wasn't so easy to fit (or light) in this car, but will def keep in mind for future films for sure. Thanks for watching, and commenting.
YES YES YES Fantastic footage, thank you for gathering and sharing with us!
You’re most welcome, glad you enjoyed it:)
Your channel is seriously underrated. Im gonna start recommending it to my friends
hat's really kind, thanks Adrian
Sam, thanks for making and sharing these films. I realise that it adds a lot of extra work to what must already be a very busy workday for you....but we really, really appreciate your energy and passion, and your oh-so-articulate description of what makes these old, iconic race cars so special.
Thanks Eddy, so nice to hear and much appreciated. Will keep making as many of these as I can so stay tuned (and subscribe;)
You need to do more videos mate, everything you drive. Live your passion. When you do a video, it’s the best there is.
Glad you mentioned frank dernie. Williams success is down to him, after all the car is an aero device.
What a privilege to drive the FW08.
A fantastic video. Probably the best in car footage I have ever seen. Thank you for making this video.
Was definitely my pleasure Michael! Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment, much appreciated.
How does this not have more views ?
I think thats the happiest I've ever seen you
Ha, certainly right up there!
Wonderful! Im so pleased to have discovered your channel Sam.
Welcome aboard!
Fantastic video Sam . Thanks
Many thanks!
Such a beauty that car
great video; I love old F1 cars, I hope to see more of them driven (and commented live 🙂) by you.
Thanks, will do!
Great video!!! More please 👏👏👏
Cheers!
The air speeds up through the narrowest part of the sidepods, not where it expands further back. This car couldn't have sliding skirts as they had been banned and the 1982 cars relied on very stiff suspension to maintain a constant ride height with the fixed skirts just contacting the ground. Ground effect cars from that period only work properly when the skirts are sealing the side pods, so I'm sure if the car was run in it's proper configuration you'd feel even more downforce. Without proper skirts air is sucked in from the sides. As you touched on early in the video, the reason the car is so short and quite tall is to accommodate the extra length of the car in its original intended form of six wheels (i.e. a shorter, taller fuel tank). The six wheel format had three aims: one to reduce the drag of the large rear wheels; two to have four wheel drive and three to extend the ground effect tunnels. Such a shame it didn't compete for a season in six-wheeler form. I was at Brands Hatch in 82 when Keke stuck the car on pole but the car refused to fire up on the formation lap and Keke had to start from the back. His drive through the field was spectacular until it came to an end. One other thing you could do with the six wheeler is run front and middle axles with rain tyres in wet conditions with a set of slicks on the back axle running on dry tarmac cleared of water by the front four wheels and adding to the grip levels.
Great fan of Keke, but this was a season when he lucked into the championship. Good for him, but really Villeneuve, Pironi or Prost ought to have been champion that year. I also wondered what Alan Jones would have done in this car because he was mighty in 1981, if he'd carried on in the same vein, he too may well have earned a second title.
I'm sure the fact that the cars had to run with a very stiff suspension set up was a contributory factor in both Gilles and Didier being launched high into the air during their accidents, together with the large under floor area.
Back to FW08: also one of my favourite cars, I love that era, although I'm not sure that they were that pleasant to drive.
Goosebumps bigtime..... I'd sell my grandmother to drive that car. 😅
Great vid Sam
haha, thanks, I suspect you're not alone;) Glad you enjoyed it.
Amazing stuff!
Thank you!
keke rosberg number 1 f1 pilot, i am from brasil
Excellent video very smooth driving how about a bt 49 Brabham?
One question. I've noticed that both 1982 and 1983 models of FW08 had a narrower rear wheel span, while the front wheel span was wider. I'd like some more information about the reasons behind that. Was it something to do with steering?
WTF, it is all engine, with a little steering wheel plucked on the front.
Always loved the cigarette smoking Keke, Mr Kool !!!
That thing seems so tiny compared to today's F1 cars.
I know what you mean - luckily though not too small inside, I'm 6'2" and was pretty comfortable in it.
Unreal how few views this has.
On par with anything from TG or Carfection.
Thanks Seth, really appreciate that - would certainly be nice to get a few more views;))
@@hancock_sam We appreciate you. Keep up what you're doing. We love ya for it.
Do you have to use clutch on every shift, or is it dogbox gearbox? :)
Dog box, so clutch only on downshift.
1995
Yassssssss!!!!!!!
Keke Rosberg is the fucking GOAT 🐐