There is an old adage in Formula One that says that a pretty car is a fast car. The Williams team, however, believe that, when winning, any car is pretty, and that is what they expect to prove with the new radical FW26 launched this week. Atlas F1's Will Gray reviews the Grove team's chances of success with their new beast

Sabre-tooth Tiger or Weeping Walrus? Opinion, it seems, is already divided in the Williams-BMW camp over whether their innovative new racer will be deemed the ugliest car to grace a Grand Prix grid. One thing, however, is absolutely clear: the team believe it is the machine that can end their Championship drought. It seems ugly is beautiful for the men from Grove.

The new machine drew gasps when it was rolled into the spotlights in a building beside the Valencia test track in Spain, a break from Williams' traditional Silverstone launch. The design immediately showed that innovation is still possible in modern Formula One and even the design chief Gavin Fisher allowed himself a flutter of excitement over its potential performance.

Speed, clearly, not looks, was the team's main objective. But, with Williams currently experiencing their longest run without a Championship, they are determined to prove this year that the old adage "a pretty car is a fast car" does not always apply. As team owner Sir Frank Williams suggested in Valencia: no matter what you think, anything, when it is winning, is pretty.

"Six years have passed since we last won a title and that hurts," said Williams. "I love the anticipation that comes with each new season. Neither (Technical Director) Patrick Head nor myself have ever been one of those people that live in the past so we will hopefully go into this season with a competitive car from the outset.

"The FW25 didn't appear to be a Championship-winning car at the start of the season but the team worked exceptionally hard to develop it into a title challenger. Unfortunately we didn't claim a tenth title with it, but we made enough progress to close the gap to Ferrari. Now we have to move a step further forward."

The new machine, with what the team described as curved drooping "tusks" connecting the front wing to stumpy nose design, will no doubt see many teams heading back to the drawing board to consider trying the solution out themselves. It is unique, it has already turned heads, and it could be on other cars before the start of the season.

Insiders at several top teams have already admitted they will be trying it out before the start of the season and one design source said: "It is something we will review. We investigated a similar concept a few years ago and at that time it didn't offer anything to us but things change. Perhaps it is something we should look at again."

The styling may not be pretty, but it is sure to be functional. Williams are already confident from many hours of wind tunnel testing that their route is the way to go. But because of the way Formula One design is going, Ferrari technical director Ross Brawn is not so sure the revolutionary design will reap that many rewards in overall performance.

"It is an interesting concept and they have obviously done it for a reason, which I assume is for aerodynamic benefit," said Brawn after seeing pictures of the new machine. "I don't think it will be a dramatic improvement but then again nothing is in Formula One these days, it's all small increments. It's nice to see something different.

"It is like all things - they look ugly initially and then when they become the norm they get accepted. I remember when narrow tyres and narrow track cars came in and that looked really weird. Then, within a few races, everyone had forgotten about it and that was normality. Styling is not the priority and anything looks very nice if it is winning races."

The design is, as always, a compromise. Such a radical nose has caused the team to make significant changes to the crash structure and, Brawn said, that may mean the design is not as effective as its look suggests. He added: "The question will be whether the new solutions they have had to find for the structure will be compensated for by the improvement in performance."

By all accounts, the first run suggests they are more than compensated. Juan Pablo Montoya claimed, despite just six flying laps, that there is "not a single area that doesn't work" on the new machine. Maybe that is a little too optimistic at such an early stage, but the team is oozing a pre-season confidence that has been the treasured possession of only Ferrari in recent years.

"I expect and hope that we will be winning titles this year," said an ebullient Montoya. "I know our main intention is to come out fighting from Australia, no excuses. In seasons gone by, we have always looked to see where the opposition is after the winter. I hope this year that the other teams at least will have as much concern about our performance as we traditionally do about theirs."

In a slow start off the blocks last year, Ralf Schumacher secured points without fail but regularly finished the wrong end of the top eight. Montoya, meanwhile, scored well but sporadically. Then, at the Monaco Grand Prix, it all came right. Victory for Montoya sent them on their way and three further wins sent them soaring into the Championship runners-up spot.

In Monaco and the subsequent nine events they shot into form and scored 104 of their 144-points season haul - an impressive 57 percent of the achievable maximum of 180-points and better than Ferrari's 52 percent and McLaren-Mercedes' 43 percent. If the new car can carry that form forward then Williams truly will be the team on top of the pile.

But even that, it seems, was not good enough for Montoya, who admitted that the team "didn't finish 2003 so well after a great mid-season run". He insisted the winter has given him, his teammate Schumacher and the rest of the team time to reflect on the shortcomings that prevented them from achieving last year what they expect to achieve this.

Now there is a different level. All-new engine, all-new gearbox, all-new transmission, improved cooling, the list of improvements just goes on. Under the skin, the team claim, the new machine is as unique as its clothes. Its boots, the superior Michelin rubber, compliment the outfit perfectly. Williams, then, are all dressed up with somewhere to go.

At the heart lies a brand new BMW powerplant, and a drive from the German engine manufacturer that has stepped up a gear. It is not so long ago that internal bickering over a new deal saw comical tortoise pictures plastered over Williams garages by BMW engineers as critical caricatures of the slow off the mark FW25. The last laugh, however, could soon be enjoyed by both.

All happily married again in June last year, Williams and BMW got closer, integrating staff into each others' factories to help entwine the new beast with its heart even more than before. Williams believes it will help them make the next step. "The new contract takes us to greater levels of integration," he said. "I'm confident it will continue to yield significant dividends."

So, too, is BMW Motorsport boss Mario Theissen. Maybe not about the new car, just yet, as it still has its pace to prove. But his knowledge is on the engine and he is confident that, despite his protests about the controversial one engine per weekend regulation, his team's new powerplant will keep them ahead of the game.

The company last year proudly displayed their ability to rev to higher levels and produce more power from a lighter unit than ever before. Now, Theissen accepts the demands to "beef up" the engines for longer life has reduced their performance capacity - but the levels of change are not as big as he thought. Fear not, the new Williams beast will have the bite to match its teeth.

"We are flat out I would say and I'm quite confident we're well on track," said Theissen. "The programme is running well, we have had some good tests already, and although we are certainly not where we need to be in March in terms or reliability and not in terms of power either, we are quite well on track and we have covered a lot of mileage already.

"It's quite satisfying and with the remaining two months we should be able to manage it. My original expectation was that we would lose about 10 percent in terms of horsepower, but I can say that now we will start below the level of last year's output but not much. Initially we will have less power than the end of last year, but there is a chance we will recover, and during the season we should have the same power back."

So, it seems, Montoya and Schumacher's new racer has it all. The only problem is there will be two beasts on the track at the same time, each chomping at the bit to bite a chunk from the other. Montoya, desperate to take the number one to McLaren, where he will move in 2005, and Schumacher keen to prove that, now he has a car to do it, he can outpace his six-time World Champion brother Michael.

Montoya may have a deal in the bag, but he still has a lot to prove and, secretly, he would still like to win the title for the family that brought him into the sport. He is the man in the headlines, the ferocious racer, the man that has the bulldog spirit that his British team once thrived on. But now he has the car, he must prove his bite can match his bark.

Schumacher, in some ways, has even more to do. His performances last year although consistent and twice victorious, still lacked the sting of a champion. He must prove that his relaxed, gentle, rosy-cheeked persona belies the internal aggression and determination needed to achieve even one sixth of what his elder brother has accomplished at Ferrari.

Sometimes a blessing, sometimes a burden, the pairing, in its last year together, are sure to put Williams and Head through heaven and hell. It will be an emotional charge in the quest to end the team's longest stint without a title. But one thing is for sure: Montoya and Schumacher are ready to let the saber-tooth start munching the opposition.