Scottish Elises

Their practice times are woeful. 1.5 to 2 seconds behind 18th position, firmly stuck in the last two spots of all practice sessions by quite a margin. Just within the 107% of fastest time so a chance they may not officially qualify although I recall in the past if the other teams agree then they can be allowed to run. Stories of not able to run kerbs too hard because a shortage of spare parts.
I hope I am wrong but just have a feeling this could be a key season for Williams. Many of us on here are of an age to remember their glory days and it must be so difficult for independents to compete with the major manufacturer teams. Would hate to see the team and name disappear from the grid and have a sad feeling that’s the way it is headed, whether sooner or later. But that’s nostalgia I guess and has happened plenty of times in the past: Tyrrell, Brabham, etc.

Tyrell, Brabham, dont forget Lotus, Ligier, Minardi, Jordan, no more independents "garigistas" as Enzo called them. I started following F1 regularly on TV in 1980 and in 1983 I went to Spa & Silverstone as a 17 yr old. Great experiences. These days its hard to follow. I've almost given up and if Williams go I should. My last GP was Malaysia 1999. Been to Le Mans 7 times since, thats where my cash goes .

Pretty woeful times indeed. They will have to team up like Haas, Sauber/Alfa, etc. Ferrari has its full complement of teams, but maybe they could become a third team in the Red Bull/Torro Rosso Honda setup? That way they get to share a complete backend more or less and can focus on marketing which, today, is their biggest asset in F1 I suspect (their name). Red Bull would get further cost benefits and this would go down nicely; I expect Williams would be happy scrapping in the second half of the field rather than being lapped on lap 10 ...

Sad to Williams floundering at the back and with current driver line up they are lacking experience too. Kubica is a long time out of the drivers seat and although it’s good to see him return I suspect he might struggle to show any real form. Fingers crossed they can find form and be competitive.

Would have loved to see Clare flourish and capitalise on her father’s legacy. But maybe not to be.

It’ll take a couple of years to recover from Paddy Lowe’s underperformance.

They might not have that long.

Which is why becoming a third team makes sense. Red bull benefit from extra test mileage, etc, Williams get better performance.
Maybe Mercedes will run them as a sister team? There is a some history there.

robin wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 17, 2019 12:41 pm

Which is why becoming a third team makes sense. Red bull benefit from extra test mileage, etc, Williams get better performance.
Maybe Mercedes will run them as a sister team? There is a some history there.

That would make sense and put Estoban in the car .

campbell wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 17, 2019 1:13 am

It’ll take a couple of years to recover from Paddy Lowe’s underperformance.

Do you really think 1 person can cause that? Felt a lot like a scapegoat to me, and perhaps a mistake.

Williams issues seem to run pretty deep, they haven't been all that competitive for a long time now. Sad to see, but then watching what Racing Point / Force India can do with less budget, and the same engine is impressive.

Well at least they both finished the first race - last of the runners but not last overall due to 3 non-finishers. Can’t see how they are going to be able to score any points this year

Corranga wrote:
Do you really think 1 person can cause that? Felt a lot like a scapegoat to me, and perhaps a mistake.

.

Yes. AKA leadership (or lack of). If you’re paid the big bucks, you have to deliver.

OTOH, I’m hearing whispers of fall guy. So we shall see...

https://sniffpetrol.com/2019/03/19/geor ... 2MofIdWxoo

And....

https://sniffpetrol.com/2019/02/25/osca ... -williams/