Frank Williams steps down

[nigelred5]

I agree. I will always have a soft spot for him, but his treatment for the drivers were not very nice. If you the recent interviews with Rubens, same happened again...

Frank bought a high priced veteran driver once... 1994. I don't recall him ever paying for a high priced front line veteran driver after that. Frank refused to pay top salaries at the expense of the team, even when he had huge budgets. Once a driver proved himself and sought a higher salary, the were gone. I think his handling of drivers could have certainly been better, but Williams has always reportedly stayed within their means and I can't fault a team for that. Driver salaries are probably the one factor that is most easily controlled by the team. There's always a younger driver out there that will work cheaper, but that philosophy has bitten williams from time to time. Developing Technology and building cars costs money.

[ArrowsFA1]

I agree. I will always have a soft spot for him, but his treatment for the drivers were not very nice. If you the recent interviews with Rubens, same happened again...

By "the drivers" I take it you mean Mansell and Hill? They are the most often cited examples, prompted largely by the vociferous UK tabloid media. I seem to recall The Sun encouraging a campaign outside the gates of the Williams factory when Mansell was "kicked out" :

Given the many, many drivers that Williams have employed over the years I wouldn't consider less than a handfull of instances as being significant, and they certainly do not warrant this reputation that Williams seem to have regarding their treatment of drivers.

As ever with these kind of things there is more than one side to every story. Mansell's version differs from the Williams version for example. As for Rubens you can understand if he feels hard done by by Williams but bottom line is that the choice of drivers is down to the team.

I think the fact that Mansell, Hill and other drivers remain on very good terms with Williams says enough.

[BDunnell]

Given the many, many drivers that Williams have employed over the years I wouldn't consider less than a handfull of instances as being significant, and they certainly do not warrant this reputation that Williams seem to have regarding their treatment of drivers.

It is true though, is it not, that Williams has always had a tougher attitude with regard to such things than other teams? I mean, look at Frank Williams' comments about Alan Jones being 'grossly inconsiderate' in the timing of his retirement. Few other team bosses, even in the early 1980s, would have said that! Still, it hasn't exactly done the team much harm.

[ArrowsFA1]

It is true though, is it not, that Williams has always had a tougher attitude with regard to such things than other teams? I mean, look at Frank Williams' comments about Alan Jones being 'grossly inconsiderate' in the timing of his retirement. Few other team bosses, even in the early 1980s, would have said that!

I'm not so sure. For one thing Jones was inconsiderate announcing his retirement so late. He left the constructors champions with few options as the top drivers were already signed up. As it turned out Rosberg proved to be a good signing but at the time he was not considered a topline driver. He was, however, available!

I do think that generally people were more outspoken at that time and Frank's comments should be seen in that context. Remember Peter Warr's comment about Mansell - "he'll never win a Grand Prix as long as I have a hole in my arse"?

[wedge]

and they certainly do not warrant this reputation that Williams seem to have regarding their treatment of drivers.

Well, they've never been noted for being the caring type, putting arms round shoulders, etc. Patrick Head particularly often regarded as a taskmaster.

In hindsight Reutimann could probably done with more attention and Frentzen felt he prospered at Jordan because it had a better working environment.

[ArrowsFA1]

Looks like the changes at Williams may just have done the trick. Ok, they didn't get the result in the end but the car showed strong performance throughout the weekend. Looking forward to Malaysia.

[N. Jones]

I didn't read through the whole thing so I'm sorry if this is a double post:

Who is slated to take over as owner of the Williams team once Sir Frank shuffles off this mortal coil?