It is notable as the last car to be driven by three-time world champion Ayrton Senna before his fatal accident during the San Marino Grand Prix.

It featured revised bodywork, including a low profile engine cover; taller sidepods; enclosed driveshaft; and an anhedral rear wing lower element, which was previously hinted at on the FW15C.

In addition to these changes, the FW16 featured an innovative rear suspension wishbone design, an improved version of the Renault Sport Formula One engine (RS6), and a fuel valve to enable the ability for mid-race refuelling (a rule reintroduced for 1994).

The car configuration included a distinctive anhedral rear wing lower element, the effectiveness of which depended on a low outboard tail section, which was achieved by totally enclosing the driveshafts within wing-section carbon-fibre composite shrouds that doubled as the upper wishbones.

Its power was transmitted by means of a revised and lightened version of the six-speed transverse sequential gearbox used the previous year.

The FW16 featured power-assisted steering, hydraulically driven, and reacting to input from electronic sensors, a system that drew heavily from the knowledge gained from the team's active suspension technology.

In accordance with the new 1994 regulations, the FW16 did not have adjustable anti-roll bar controls accessible by the driver from the cockpit, which were present in FW15C and earlier Williams F1 cars.

The early problems led to a raft of aerodynamic changes in the first half of the season, the first coming for the ill-fated San Marino GP at Imola.

The FW16 lacked the active suspension and traction control of the previous season's FW15C, yet was an evolution of a chassis that had been designed for and depended on these systems.

The narrow driveability window stemmed from the fact that the car's aerodynamics were an evolution of a platform designed around the active suspension.

"[citation needed] Paddy Lowe, who had left Williams for McLaren in 1994, said in 2014, "Aerodynamic experimentation in those days was not sophisticated enough to understand the ride height sensitivity of aero.

Back then, if a typical model was running different front and rear ride heights in a straight line, you were at the leading edge of sophistication."

"That would mean the impact of introducing a much wider range of ride heights on circuit [through not having active suspension] would be greater than people were perhaps able to deal with.

[5] Even after the initial Imola modifications, the car maintained its tendency of dynamically changing its handling balance (understeer or oversteer) for any given setup.

[citation needed] Being more nervous than the preceding FW14B when driven at the limit this manifested itself in slight rear-end instability under braking, most notable on high-speed circuits when the car was operating in a low downforce trim, attributed to small changes in weight distribution from the year before.

The shortened sidepods arose due to a necessity to use larger bargeboards after the front wing endplate diffusers were banned.

The car featured a distinctive blue and white livery after securing title sponsorship from Rothmans, replacing both Canon and Camel at the end of 1993.

Williams used the 'Rothmans' logos, except at French, British and German Grands Prix, where they were replaced with either "Racing" or a barcode with a generic tri-coloured rectangle that associated with the brand.