Williams F1

Thanks to their sponsor they have enough booze to put on their beer goggles about their own situation

 

Massa: Williams F1 team paying price in '18 for putting money first
Felipe Massa believes his former team Williams is paying the price for putting money first in some of its decisions for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

Williams has endured a tough start to the 2018 season and is the only team yet to score a point after the first three races.

Massa, who retired from F1 at the end of last season, believes Williams's difficulties can be traced back to it lacking the kind of money the big manufacturer teams have, prompting it to run the inexperienced but well-backed pair of Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin.

Speaking to Autosport at last weekend's Rome Formula E round, Massa said: "It's true that the team was suffering from the financial situation and I think they made decisions for 2018 putting money first.

"But this is not enough to make a competitive championship.

"All I can say is that I came out with my head held high. I have a good relationship with everyone at Grove and I hope that the best for the team comes out as soon as possible.

"But I can add that I'm happy to have made my decision last year."

When asked if, based on Williams's current struggles, his retirement from F1 was perfectly timed, Massa said: "Yes. I chose the right time and now I'm enjoying my life.

"I hope Williams can recover."

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Reflecting on the battle at the front of the grid, Massa said the early season success of another of his former teams, Ferrari, had surprised him.

Sebastian Vettel won the first two races of the season for the outfit, and also has two pole positions from the opening three rounds.

"To tell you the truth I didn't expect it," he said. "I expected Mercedes to be far ahead of Ferrari, and I think even Red Bull could be fighting them.

"What we saw in the first races was great for the sport because we did not see just one team winning.

"I am happy that Ferrari has started well. In the Maranello team they have made several changes in the last two years and many thought they were backwards.

"[But] they have shown that they have a large group that knows how to work very well.

"This makes me happy because I've always been a Ferrari fan."

 

It's nice to know that Phil is still a Ferrari fan. Why not? He had his best years with Maranello.

 

It's F1, it's all about the money, you don't have it then you are stuck in the second tier.
If you hire a talented driver and he shows speed but you don't have the money, he jumps
ship to a better-funded team and you are back with nothing. (Senna/Toleman/Lotus ring a bell?)

 

Right. Of course, there's little chance of Stroll and Sirotkin being signed by a better team!

 

Even though most of his years with Ferrari were as a second driver, he served the company successfully. Great guy!

 

A bit rich from the guy whose last years at Williams were bankrolled by Petrobras and who had to bring in at all costs his mancrash Smedley, who is probably the real cause Williams are so slow now. Pot->Kettle, Massa sucks too.

 

? This year's car is all Paddy Lowe's. This isn't a secret.

 

Please give that up. Massa made Kimi look weak and FA confirmed it when he crushed Kimi. Massa was the the only good reason to follow Williams of late. Its certainly not anyone else LOL

 

All? With each year of Smedley increasing his developments duties Williams have slumped more and more. Lowe is the manager/part owner, doubt he has as much input in development.

 

Should have moved there earlier then instead of staying at Ferrari 5 years past his sell by date.

 

APRIL 23, 2018

Mercedes could help solve Williams problem?

APRIL 23, 2018



Williams may be reaching out to Mercedes in a bid to end its 2018 car crisis.

Under the technical leadership of former Mercedes chief Paddy Lowe, Williams' 2018 car is among the very slowest on the grid.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports that a major issue is the cooling system.

"Paddy Lowe wanted to copy the cooling system of his former team Mercedes, but the concept is complicated and apparently Williams made a mistake," correspondent Michael Schmidt explained.

"Now the bodywork has to be opened up completely and that costs a lot of downforce."

Schmidt said it might tie in with a paddock conservation spotted in China between Lance Stroll's father Lawrence and Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

A Williams engineer is quoted as saying: "If we solve the cooling problem, we'll gain 8 tenths in one fell swoop."

 

if they change the donkeys behind the wheel for a real driver they will find more then 8 tenths in one fell swoop

 

hahaha yeah was about to say the same!

 

But you still have to get money from somewhere...

 

Is that you, Monsieur Boullier?

 

Interesting!!!! Something some of us have been talking weeks ago on FChat........

Williams refuses to blame inexperienced driver line-up for lack of performance

http://kwese.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/23292912/williams-refuses-blame-inexperienced-driver-line-lack-performance

 

Of course it's not their fault..they are doing the best they can..nobody can blame them for not being able to do more!!

 

Can't very well start insulting their biggest source of cash

 

Hey, papa’ Stroll, wanna know how to end up as a millionaire in F1? Start as a billionaire with your son as driver!

 

http://www.planetf1.com/news/become-tyrrell-over-my-dead-body/

2 more bad years.....is all I give them.

 

It's tough to watch Williams going through bad years, and if they are on the bubble with finances who knows what will happen. Maybe McLaren makes money from their road cars, and maybe Williams makes money from their non-F1 technical engineering business, but both teams seem to have lost the magic that puts them at the front of the grid, regardless of engines.

 

The partners behind Mclaren have more capital than Williams It seems.

 

Stroll’s father wants Williams to ‘do a Haas’ with Mercedes
2018 F1 seasonPosted on | 3rd May 2018, 15:06Dieter Rencken / Author Keith Collantine

Lance Stroll’s father Lawrence wants Williams and Mercedes to adopt a Haas/Ferrari-style model but denied he has offered to pay for it.

Haas sources its power unit, gearbox, rear suspension and other components* from Ferrari. Stroll told RaceFans it makes sense for Williams to pursue a similar arrangement with Mercedes, whose engines it already uses.

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However the fashion magnate, whose wealth is estimated at several billion dollars, dismissed rumours he has offered to fund a Haas-type deal between Mercedes and Williams.
Stroll said he “tried to persuade [the team] to go that route, but I’m not about to buy them anything from Toto [Wolff, Mercedes Motorsport executive director].”

In response to a question from RaceFans in Baku, Wolff said the team now has the “capacity” to follow the Haas model with Williams or fellow engine customer Force India in 2019.

“I think we have seen that the system between Ferrari and Haas has worked for both,” said Wolff. “It’s an interesting revenue filler for Ferrari and I think in terms of synergies there is a lot you can work on.

“And it has functioned for Haas. They are a very competitive team without having built on a legacy, or without having built on know-how that would have taken years and years to collect.

“So far the system is very successful and of course our thinking goes in that direction, whether it is Williams or Force India to collaborate. But we are in the middle of a tough fight for this 2018 championship, so we need to prioritise.”

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Stroll (right) with Williams designer Paddy Lowe
Rumours Williams might pursue a closer relationship with Mercedes first surfaced last year. But deputy team principal Claire Williams told RaceFans last month the team is “proud” to be a constructor and said she is unwilling to pursue the Haas route.
“The model that Haas have, the model that Force India have to a lesser degree, is not something that we subscribe to at Williams. We certainly haven’t in the past. We feel we are a whole constructor, a holistic constructor. We’re very proud of the fact that we design, build and develop our race cars fully in-house. Very, very little is out-sourced.

“Whether that’s a relevant approach in this day and age under the operating circumstances that we find ourselves in in Formula One at the moment, maybe it’s not. But that’s where we are at the moment, and so that’s what we have to work with.

 

http://www.planetf1.com/news/mercedes-open-to-a-ferrari-haas-style-relationship/