[Team] Williams: Do they have a spare tub?

[pirenzo]

Thanks to whoever it was that posted the Peter Windsor article a few pages back.

I agree with most of what was said by others here in the intervening pages of this thread.

The only thing that sticks out to me is how this whole 'family' business thing has become an excuse.

Do we really mean to say that Williams is the new Minardi, and we're just glad they're still around having a jolly good go?

Nobody would lament the loss of the family connection if they started competing properly again.

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by P38 in workshop

According to Russell's comments they have identified a fairly fundamental problem.Thats a positive thing,the problem is going to take a couple of months to fix.They really need to do everything possible to reduce that time span,there are too many points escaping with each race they appear at with a flawed car and they desperately need to grab a point or two during the season.

Story Here

Is the “fundamental fault” that the team designed a tortoise in a game full of hares?

[Aysedasi]

How many more tortoises can they get away with? They already have quite a bit of Testudinidae experience......

[S griffin]

Let's hope for their sake they've sorted it in time for the European season

[Tourer]

Claire did a short sit-down interview with Australian TV yesterday (Saturday) before qualifying I think. Female non-motorsport interviewer and Alan Jones.

If I had a link or whatevs I'd post it but unfortunately it was one interview in the middle of something like 9 hours of programme time for the AGP.

Claire was quite defensive about the current team performance and said that people have quickly forgotten that the team was doing well only a couple of years ago, that she took over a team that had been finishing 8-9 and had it finishing 3-5. Sounds like the criticism is getting under her skin a little, which is understandable.

She also talked about how important the family feel it is to maintain the legacy of Frank & Ginny and also that a non-family member wouldn't be doing any better with the current car (or last year's car).

AJ said he was confident that with the resources at Grove, the team would turn things around at some stage but there was no discussion on how quickly.

I don't know Claire so can't really be too critical of her management style etc but there has to be something completely out of kilter in the structure at Williams for them to roll out 2 (reportedly) fundamentally different designs in 2 years, both of which have a deep-seated flaw of series of flaws that will take time to rectify this year and couldn't be rectified at all last year.

Seems to me that someone is needed who can take the family emotion out of it and have a hard-nosed run through where the problems lie and start addressing them. At the very least, if there is clear evidence that changes are being made for sound reasons internally, that may help to keep the current sponsors on board in the hope of some improvement.

Mind you, with all the talk about the team, the sponsors are getting quite a bit of coverage I suppose.

[wnut]

The person best placed to sort out the Williams mess imo would be Paddy Lowe, he now knows the weaknesses in the Williams system and who is incapable of doing their work.
I guess his demise has probably come from airing his opinions on the areas of weakness (who needs to go), or frustration, and failing to produce a competitive car with insufficient resources.

Losing Paddy just means that the status quo will be maintained and it will take the "new broom" two years to decide the problems are insurmountable and resign.

[billy bleach]

Can someone explain exactly what Clare Williams contributes over a race weekend? Every camera shot shows her stood on her own somewhere in the Garage , microphone folded away looking bewildered. Hardly the Charesmatic leader of a Toto Wolf or Vassure Type....

[GTRMagic]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

Can someone explain exactly what Clare Williams contributes over a race weekend? Every camera shot shows her stood on her own somewhere in the Garage , microphone folded away looking bewildered. Hardly the Charesmatic leader of a Toto Wolf or Vassure Type....

She points to the branding on the pit garage, back at herself, and silence in the shed ensues...

[Peter Mallett]

Anybody watched the Netflix F1 series? I think half the problem last year was Sttoll senior who did very little to seek answers and simply listened to the constant whining from his son.

Had he been a bit more proactive he'd have learned something which may have helped to resolve some of the problems, one of which was clearly a young driver with a massive entitlement problem.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Anybody watched the Netflix F1 series? I think half the problem last year was Sttoll senior who did very little to seek answers and simply listened to the constant whining from his son.

Had he been a bit more proactive he'd have learned something which may have helped to resolve some of the problems, one of which was clearly a young driver with a massive entitlement problem.

If that is the case, then Williams should see a significant improvement already, given that the driver and backer you refer to are no longer with the team?

[Peter Mallett]

Well you'd think so wouldn't you but these things take time. What if they were coerced into believing what Stroll junior was telling them and thus built their models around that info?

[Akrapovic]

Not sure how it can be Strolls fault the car is bad. The 2018 car was junk and since they had Massa and di Resta on the books in 2017, there was a fair bit of experience behind the early development choices of that car.

Blaming Stroll is a convenient excuse that won't dig them out of this hole.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Anybody watched the Netflix F1 series? I think half the problem last year was Sttoll senior who did very little to seek answers and simply listened to the constant whining from his son.



Had he been a bit more proactive he'd have learned something which may have helped to resolve some of the problems, one of which was clearly a young driver with a massive entitlement problem.

I don't think there was any thought of collective responsibility to improve things, Stroll was a customer who believed he wasn't getting what he paid for. Although I believe he was in favour of closer ties with Mercedes which CW is against.

Same with SMP, they didn't believe it was worth the money. This is the problem when you rely on pay drivers, not only are they often not that good, they (or their bakers) they also expect value for money. This is the tricky position William's find themselves in.

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[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by wnut

The person best placed to sort out the Williams mess imo would be Paddy Lowe, he now knows the weaknesses in the Williams system and who is incapable of doing their work.
I guess his demise has probably come from airing his opinions on the areas of weakness (who needs to go), or frustration, and failing to produce a competitive car with insufficient resources.

Losing Paddy just means that the status quo will be maintained and it will take the "new broom" two years to decide the problems are insurmountable and resign.

I don't think he is, regardless of apportioning blame, the inescapable fact is that two of the worst William's cars in recent memory or probably ever, were on his watch and responsibility as TD, very hard to come back from that.

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[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Not sure how it can be Strolls fault the car is bad. The 2018 car was junk and since they had Massa and di Resta on the books in 2017, there was a fair bit of experience behind the early development choices of that car.

Blaming Stroll is a convenient excuse that won't dig them out of this hole.

I was merely postulating the theory that his approach to the team, based on the Netflix series, may have set them in the wrong direction.

Like everything else in this thread it's a theory.

Going on what you say it would be Massa who ****ed it up.

[djinvicta]

Thank you Peter.. correct. I always reckoned Massa as a No2, and a good one, but not a leader..

[djinvicta]

And I really think Kubica should reconsider..

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by pirenzo

Thanks to whoever it was that posted the Peter Windsor article a few pages back.

I agree with most of what was said by others here in the intervening pages of this thread.

The only thing that sticks out to me is how this whole 'family' business thing has become an excuse.

Do we really mean to say that Williams is the new Minardi, and we're just glad they're still around having a jolly good go?

Nobody would lament the loss of the family connection if they started competing properly again.

Pirenzo, for me personally, I was always keen on Williams's approach to being a constructor. I quite liked their purist approach that said that all teams should be constructors. I know it hasn't always been that way in Formula 1, but I liked the idea, so in some way it would be nice to see them make the best of that in a situation in which there are 'satellite teams'. Unfortunately, it is now perhaps to the serious detriment of their performance.

[Akrapovic]

I'm not sure any driver should be taking responsibility for the downfall of Williams.

[EastonNeston]

It is a worrying sign that Russell, a total F1 rookie, was quicker than the much more experienced Kubica. If this continues for the next few races I can see the team been under pressure to replace Kubica before the European races start.
Also, the team sponsors will be questioning the value of their investment as they are getting no screen time during races.

[Nikki Katz]

To be fair to Kubica, he had a damaged car and really just wanted to get mileage. One bad race can be overlooked, but if he gets lapped by his teammate next time then there may be questions.

I hope that Williams score something at some point this year, but it doesn't look like it'll be any time soon.

[S griffin]

Well Kubica didn’t look that convincing, shame to say. The talent is still there, but he’d be struggling against a talented team mate

I think Williams best hopes for points is rain, then we’ll see

[mstets]

Originally Posted by Born Racer

Pirenzo, for me personally, I was always keen on Williams's approach to being a constructor. I quite liked their purist approach that said that all teams should be constructors. I know it hasn't always been that way in Formula 1, but I liked the idea, so in some way it would be nice to see them make the best of that in a situation in which there are 'satellite teams'. Unfortunately, it is now perhaps to the serious detriment of their performance.

Seems a bit of an odd stance given that the origins of the team are as a privateer outfit running cars wholly purchased from outside. Seems to me they should be using everything from Mercedes that's available, in order to regain some measure of competitiveness as quickly as possible.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Nikki Katz

To be fair to Kubica, he had a damaged car and really just wanted to get mileage. One bad race can be overlooked, but if he gets lapped by his teammate next time then there may be questions.

I hope that Williams score something at some point this year, but it doesn't look like it'll be any time soon.

Didn't he damage it himself in qualifying?

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

Didn't he damage it himself in qualifying?

All cars pick up “damage” over a race weekend . The key is most teams have spare parts....