The Williams FW34 was a Formula One racing car designed by Williams F1 for the 2012 Formula One season.
Design Following their worst season in their thirty-year history—in which they finished ninth in the World Constructors' Championship with just five points—the team underwent a technical review, employing former McLaren designer Mike Coughlan (having served his suspension for his role in the 2007 Formula One espionage controversy) as Chief Designer, and promoting Jason Somerville to Head of Aerodynamics.
The FW34 used the Renault RS27-2012 engine; the team had previously used Renault engines between 1989 and 1997. The car, which was launched on the 7 February 2012, was driven by Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna.
Racing history At the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix, Maldonado drove the FW34 to pole position and converted it to victory the next day. It was Maldonado's first and only Formula One race win, Williams' first race win since Juan Pablo Montoya won the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix driving an FW26, and Williams' most recent race win as of October 2025.
Livery Drawing the inspiration from the Rothmans-sponsored FW19 of 1997, the blue colour on the engine cover was flipped along with other minor changes. PDVSA was retained for the second year with new sponsorships from Procter & Gamble products (Gillette and Head & Shoulders).
Gallery
Complete Formula One results (key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Engine Tyres Drivers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Points Williams F1 Renault RS27-2012 AUS MAL CHN BHR ESP MON CAN EUR GBR GER HUN BEL ITA SIN JPN KOR IND ABU USA BRA 76 8th Pastor Maldonado 13 19 8 Ret 1 Ret 13 12 16 15 13 Ret 11 Ret 8 14 16 5 9 Ret Bruno Senna 16 6 7 22 Ret 10 17 10 9 17 7 12 10 18 14 15 10 8 10 Ret Driver failed to finish the race, but was classified as they had completed greater than 90% of the race distance.
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