Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. #1
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    1,461
    Like
    109
    Liked 47 Times in 35 Posts

    Paddy is off too !

    Latest news is that Mercedes are losing Paddy Lowe to Williams
    Mercedes wanted Bottas ,but Williams are reluctant to release him even with Mercedes offering over £8 million of help to Williams
    Now does Rob Smedley go back to Ferrari or does he stay ?

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
    Posts
    4,032
    Like
    0
    Liked 6 Times in 5 Posts
    And James Allison goes to Mercedes...but given both will have cooling off periods they liekly won't start at their new teams until the summer of 2017, so zero impact on next year's cars...at least for their new employers.
    :champion: WRC3 championship, WRC4 championship, WRC4 PCWRC, WRC4 ERC
    Winner - TRD2 Bathurst:burnout:

  3. #3
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by driveace View Post
    Latest news is that Mercedes are losing Paddy Lowe to Williams
    Mercedes wanted Bottas ,but Williams are reluctant to release him even with Mercedes offering over £8 million of help to Williams
    Now does Rob Smedley go back to Ferrari or does he stay ?
    He is overrated, if he were a driver, he would have been dumped at the end of the 2014 season. The Mercedes has had reliability issue of all sorts over the last three years and it never really improved over that time. It actually got worst in 2016 with two embarrassing engine failures, loads of clutch problems and a number incorrect start mode setups afflicting Rosberg and Hamilton, while the Mercedes customer teams enjoyed good engine reliability all season; except for Massa who had a heating problem on one occasion.

    He picked up Brawns hard work and never really seemed to progress it. I think the enduring foundations of Brawn's efforts that put the Mercedes at the sharp end of the grid and the lack of real competition from rival teams is what carried the Mercedes through the sloppy reliability problems they have had over the last three seasons.

    Lowe is clearly not top team material, he did not perform to Mercedes' high standards. He is not good enough to go to Ferrari. He would fair well at a midfield team like Williams.

    But l wonder what is going to happen to Smedley who l think is having a similar problem. The 2016 Williams was the worst car put forward by the Williams team since 2013. The car dragged Williams from its well admired third place to fifth on Smedley's watch in one season. It is the sort of performance that is career ending really. The decision not to design a new car for 2016 which may have been due to a cost saving exercise, has proved more costly than the saving of not building a new car in the end. It was clearly a very bad decision as the season of Williams has shown.
    Last edited by Nitrodaze; 18th December 2016 at 21:02.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  4. #4
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    F1 is a funny ole world. As it goes it is Pat Symond's neck on the block and not Smedley's. At least we now know who got it wrong for Williams in 2016. It is great to see Claire Williams play hard ball with the big boys. Symonds is as big as they come. Happy to hear Smedley might be safe for another season at least.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

  5. #5
    Senior Member Jag_Warrior's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2000
    Posts
    8,489
    Like
    156
    Liked 210 Times in 159 Posts
    Mercedes announced that Paddy has officially departed the team. Now is he lining up to be team principal at Williams, once a replacement for Symonds is found (James Key)???
    "Every generation's memory is exactly as long as its own experience." --John Kenneth Galbraith

  6. #6
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    Greenwich, London UK
    Posts
    3,438
    Like
    14
    Liked 789 Times in 651 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Jag_Warrior View Post
    Mercedes announced that Paddy has officially departed the team. Now is he lining up to be team principal at Williams, once a replacement for Symonds is found (James Key)???
    James Key has been linked to Mercedes for some time now. It is possible that Lowe is replacing Symonds.
    Better a witty fool than a foolish wit.
    William Shakespeare

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •