It was driven by Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello and 2010 GP2 Series champion and rookie driver Pastor Maldonado.

The car was shaken down at Silverstone on 28 January 2011, and made its full on-track debut at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain, on 1 February 2011[2] in an interim testing livery.

The same result also occurred in the chaotic 2011 Canadian Grand Prix where Barrichello finished 9th and Maldonado again retired after he spun off during the race.

This turned out to be the FW33's final point in F1; the team eventually finished the year ninth in the World Constructors' Championship standings, with five points, the team's lowest finish since its inaugural season in 1978.

The car ran with white sidepods with an image of an origami bird in response to the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.