The car that gave Senna his first taste of Formula 1
An early 1980s Williams design has the honour of being both the first Formula 1 car tested by Ayrton Senna and the winner of one of the most famous Monaco Grands Prix. Damien Smith explains what makes the FW08C so special.
The same but different? It's a nonsense paradox easy to dismiss, but when it comes to this classic 1980s Williams the old pearl carries a grit of truth.
Only a single letter in their names differentiate the Williams FW08 in which Keke Rosberg won the 1982 F1 World Championship and the car featured here in which he defended his title, yet they look completely different. In one sense, thanks to the politically sharpened axe that cut a swathe through the F1 rule book late in the winter of 1982, they are.
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