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

[ScotsBrutesFan]

My Post from the Launch thread...

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

Williams according to the Sky Sports, will have the car arrive in the early hours of tomorrow (Wednesday) morning. So hopefully for them they will get a few shakedown laps if nothing else later in the day.

[Mike Bell]

Hopefully Confirmation then! Thanks.

[bella]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Inside Williams’ Late Delivery

not releasing a part? that's the job of a lowly bill of materials administrator. usually paid around £20k. if this employee is saying it's all their fault...

[GTRMagic]

Is the sound we hear the Last Post, playing in recognition of the fallen?

This is very sad.. to have been THE team a couple of decades ago, to not even being able to put a car into a truck on time...

[wnut]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Inside Williams’ Late Delivery

This is the bit that I find more concerning than the late delivery, late delivery is just a symptom:

"2) Overall morale in the team is “low ----”. “We’re being worked like dogs, treated like ----, and HR is a ------- joke”

3) “We’re often wondering who’s in charge around here”
Williams seem to be in a lot of mess, a mess that needs to be sorted if they want to see themselves anywhere close to the top."

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by wnut

This is the bit that I find more concerning than the late delivery, late delivery is just a symptom:

"2) Overall morale in the team is “low ----”. “We’re being worked like dogs, treated like ----, and HR is a ------- joke”

3) “We’re often wondering who’s in charge around here”
Williams seem to be in a lot of mess, a mess that needs to be sorted if they want to see themselves anywhere close to the top."

I totally agree, but would alter your third comment by removing the last four words...

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Is the sound we hear the Last Post, playing in recognition of the fallen?

This is very sad.. to have been THE team a couple of decades ago, to not even being able to put a car into a truck on time...

Stuck in a time warp, you can't run a team of 600 plus staff relying on FOM results income and sponsorship, the rate card for which has tumbled like a stone from 10 or 20 years ago. Williams pride themselves on being a pure constructor, but as Haas and Sauber (Alfa) are showing, using listed components via an alliance with another manufacturer gives you a proven base to develop from. Freeing up resources to actually develp and engineer the car. This is the modern way, the car indusrty is led by platform sharing among brands. Does Claire really beleieve that Mercedes 1000 staff and almost unlimited Daimler resources will build a worse gearbox and rear end of the car than Williams will build themselves? Why take pride in doing everthing yourself even if it results in a worse product?


II'm not advocating customer cars per se, but it makes sense to buy in what proven and well designed elements you can and then focus on the rest of the car.



To me Williams are keeping themselves geared up for another manufacturer works team deal, that is never going to come. The manufacturer money is going to FE, not F1. The Alfa deal is really just an extension of the Ferrari deal with Sauber and is branding led.


Liberty are tendering for common gearbox internals from 2021, with the teams just making the casings so they fit their rear end design, so Williams won't need a gearbox dept in 18 months time, so why not buy this in now from Mercedes, a unit that is designed by them to match their engine.


It is often said that countries always equip themselves to fight the last war and Williams seems to be doing the same it is seemingly running the team on the lines of 10 to 15 years ago, but without the results.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Moneyseeker

Stuck in a time warp, you can't run a team of 600 plus staff relying on FOM results income and sponsorship, the rate card for which has tumbled like a stone from 10 or 20 years ago. Williams pride themselves on being a pure constructor, but as Haas and Sauber (Alfa) are showing, using listed components via an alliance with another manufacturer gives you a proven base to develop from. Freeing up resources to actually develp and engineer the car. This is the modern way, the car indusrty is led by platform sharing among brands. Does Claire really beleieve that Mercedes 1000 staff and almost unlimited Daimler resources will build a worse gearbox and rear end of the car than Williams will build themselves? Why take pride in doing everthing yourself even if it results in a worse product?


II'm not advocating customer cars per se, but it makes sense to buy in what proven and well designed elements you can and then focus on the rest of the car.



To me Williams are keeping themselves geared up for another manufacturer works team deal, that is never going to come. The manufacturer money is going to FE, not F1. The Alfa deal is really just an extension of the Ferrari deal with Sauber and is branding led.


Liberty are tendering for common gearbox internals from 2021, with the teams just making the casings so they fit their rear end design, so Williams won't need a gearbox dept in 18 months time, so why not buy this in now from Mercedes, a unit that is designed by them to match their engine.


It is often said that countries always equip themselves to fight the last war and Williams seems to be doing the same it is seemingly running the team on the lines of 10 to 15 years ago, but without the results.

Maybe Team Willy will be bidding for the gearbox supply deal? That would keep their transmission guys busy!

[bella]

Originally Posted by wnut

This is the bit that I find more concerning than the late delivery, late delivery is just a symptom:

"2) Overall morale in the team is “low ----”. “We’re being worked like dogs, treated like ----, and HR is a ------- joke”

3) “We’re often wondering who’s in charge around here”
Williams seem to be in a lot of mess, a mess that needs to be sorted if they want to see themselves anywhere close to the top."

2 says to me it’s someone who obviously hasn’t worked in non-f1 motorsport before

3 doesn’t really matter unless you’re a HOD. if you’re not, your HOD is in charge.

says more about themselves than williams to be honest. if you don’t like it, leave.

not saying williams don’t need to sort themselves out, but this just reads like the office whinger who would complain that his bonus free unicorn wasn’t sparkly.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by bella

2 says to me it’s someone who obviously hasn’t worked in non-f1 motorsport before

3 doesn’t really matter unless you’re a HOD. if you’re not, your HOD is in charge.

says more about themselves than williams to be honest. if you don’t like it, leave.

not saying williams don’t need to sort themselves out, but this just reads like the office whinger who would complain that his bonus free unicorn wasn’t sparkly.

Can't say I agree. I don't think this has anything to do with motorsport, and these issues apply to a lot of companies in the world. Having a firm leader and a good sense of direction is vitally important even to a bottom rung person, especially when what you are trying to achieve is actually a difficult task.

If your staff view the company as a joke and nobody is happy, results won't be good. Regardless if you're dealing with F1 cars, oil rigs, tins of beans or buses. Giving this a pass and saying "He can leave" because it's motorsport is not an answer. And if people are leaving because they are unhappy, then you're not going to get the talent required to do well.

I'm sure the bonus free unicorn wasn't at all a Freddo.

[ggreen29]

Originally Posted by bella

this just reads like the office whinger who would complain that his bonus free unicorn wasn’t sparkly.

From the original report, “I've spoken with three Williams personnel (two are trackside, one is factory based)...”

So it’s at least 3 office whiners who say overall morale is low, and ‘we’ don’t know who’s in charge. Perhaps you and Claire are right and there’s nothing wrong with management at Williams, but I think that’s as likely as unicorns.

[bella]

out of all my friends in motorsport (and my own experience), i’ve almost never heard one of them say “they were such an effective boss”. i think the exception in all of that is toto wolff. everyone has beef with their tm or hod...

see my signature for my standard disclaimer. but context is a massively valuable tool in assessing comments like those in the link, and it has none of that. i’m just adding some on the other side.

[chillibowl]

its obviously something to talk about but do we know who originally posted the story on twitter/reddit? not the names of the sources but the person or journalist who got the inside info?

im not saying they are wrong and, i would agree, it resonates because it is believable but its also looks to be coming from a pretty random place imo.

[ScotsBrutesFan]

The paint scheme looks better on Track than in the publicity photos....big empty space on the rear wing endplates for a sponsor though.

[steve nielsen]

So that's 23 laps today

most teams did more laps on their shakedown/filmday

so Williams is already 3 days behind now

[S griffin]

Well they are already playing catch up. Not a good sign

[E.B]

At least they are now playing catchup. They are in a better place than yesterday.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by E.B

At least they are now playing catchup. They are in a better place than yesterday.

EXCACTLY E.B. let's try to be positive...

[bella]

Originally Posted by ScotsBrutesFan

The paint scheme looks better on Track than in the publicity photos....big empty space on the rear wing endplates for a sponsor though.

agree, from the side it looks really good, and not too far beyond the familiar martini colours. hopefully it'll at least allow them to gain decent track time, and find the issues and strengths before the season starts.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by steve nielsen

So that's 23 laps today

most teams did more laps on their shakedown/filmday

so Williams is already 3 days behind now

Most teams broke the rules then, as the filming day is max 100km and Williams did that.

And they can still do the filming day this weekend...

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by peebee2

Most teams broke the rules then, as the filming day is max 100km and Williams did that.

And they can still do the filming day this weekend...

only just, meanwhile they are still 3 days behind on everyone else

[djinvicta]

For us "oldies", you can just hear what Patrick Head would be saying...

[Graz]

Originally Posted by djinvicta

For us "oldies", you can just hear what Patrick Head would be saying...

Wouldn't happen if PH was still there...

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Graz

Wouldn't happen if PH was still there...

Lowe seems to be conspicuous by his low profile leaving Clare Williams to face the press, normally his seems to love being front and centre. Strange he leaves Mercedes and they continue to dominate - not just him then...

[S griffin]

Claire Williams herself has admitted that it’s an embarrassment that Williams have left it late to bring their car out. Can’t be easy for them, but still