Williams F1 - The Grumpy Old Men of Formula 1

[Hawkmoon]

As my mind was wandering the other day, my musings, as they often do, turned to Formula 1. Perhaps prompted by a report I'd read about Williams' use of KERS in 2010 I started to ponder Sir Frank's team and the rather beligerant attitude they'd taken on a number of issues recently.

Williams have put themselves at odds with their competitors many times over the last few years. To name a few:

- Objection to customers cars that ended Prodrive's F1 aspirations
- Left FOTA to sign with the FIA
- Refused to allow Ferrari to test Schumi
- Knocked 3 car teams on their head before the discussion even got started
- Gave the old two-finger salute to the other teams over the use of KERS next season.

Williams certainly weren't alone on all these issues but none of the other teams have been quite so, for want of a better word, objectionable as the lads from Grove.

Why is this I wonder? Is Williams' stance on these issues the act of a grand old team defending the essence of F1 against the deprivations of the manufacturers and their poisonous corporate ways? Or are these the actions of a once great team desperate to remain relevant as they slip further and further away from their glory days?

Personally I think it's a bit of both. Williams are a shadow their former selves and there has been little to suggest that they're ever going to get back to the top. By preventing customer cars, stopping 3 car teams and ignoring the "ban" on KERS I see Williams trying to stop decisions that would see them slip further away from F1 relevancy.

I also think these decisions have an element of Williams trying to protect a "vision" of F1 that may, or may not, be still relevant today. Williams firmly believe that F1 is a place for constructors and not just teams. As the last of the "garagistas" that's not surprising. Their decision to side with the FIA during the FOTA War may have been a purely legal one but I sense a bit of the Gentleman Racer in Sir Frank in that decision.

So, what say you? Are Williams just a bunch of grumpy old men or are they fighting the good fight?

[ratonmacias]

to me it looks like they are fighting a good fight. BMW ed them in 2005 with a pos v8 engine 2006 was a rebuilding year and they are on the way up. where would williams be this year if they didnt have to run one of f1 worst drivers ever?

3 car teams and customer cars are bad for f1 in my view. also manufacturers are a finicky bunch. f1 needs teams that live from f1 not teams that spend money that is earnt somewhere else.

in 2 years honda and bmw are gone how long till toyota and renault leave the building?

f1 is in trouble because teams wanted to win at all costs and it became a spending race between manufacturers some could afford it and some couldnt.

[F1boat]

Fighting a good fight IMO. If for the rich boys Ferrari and McLaren is OK to develop an expensive system and to abandon it, for Williams F1 it is not. It's a bit like the DD situation - Williams use the rules, nothing else. Spirits of the rules and gentleman's agreement sound nice, but F1, in the end, is a RACE. And you race to win!

[seppefan]

They are the longist lasting true independents and so when the manufacturers arrived for a few years before they left Williams was left as the underdog but still the team with F1 as it reason to exist to a creater extent than any other and with considerably less cash so they fight, stick to the rules and hope to get back to the winners circle without the politics and cheating that abounds elsewhere. They are the essence of F1. Lets hope they find a good engine but it looks like they might be in a bit of a pickle for 2010 already. Also Air Asia , RBS both need replacing but the fact they are talking about a new engine shows they are confident re the money and confident re getting rid of there second driver and the engine deal attached to him. Lets hope they are correct.

[ioan]

They are the longist lasting true independents...

Really?
They were strongly manufacturer backed for half of their history at least or do you think that they paid for the Renault and BMW engines?!
Just because they didn't sell a stake in their company it doesn't mean that they were living on their own.

And BTW I agree with teh thread starter Williams are just a bunch of grumpy people who do nothing else but oppose everyone and treat their drivers as merchandise. :\

[jens]

Objecting 3-car teams is logical for Williams, because if top teams had an additional car, their chances of getting good results would be even smaller.

But I don't really get it, why do they want KERS. It should be in their own interests to cut costs (including dropping KERS) and they haven't got their system working properly for 2009 anyway, so why bother?

[Sonic]

Williams' core business is motor racing so they will fight tooth and nail to protect their interests in that. By doing so they do come across as a bunch of old gits sometimes but if that's the price to pay for keeping F1 the way it should be i.e. a technical and sporting challenge of the highest order then so be it.

IMO their stance on each of the main issues mentioned here has been the correct one; with the possible exception of three car teams (which I do not mind so long as the teams nominate their point scorers before the season allowing a youngster to race and gain experience without influencing the title battles in either WDC or WCC).

[wedge]

Williams is just protecting their business interests.

Williams have spent time and money on their own KERS system not just for F1 but wider automotive industry. That's why they're siding with the FIA.

They came from nothing, Frank Williams started off by conducting deals from a phone box.

Williams are a privateer at heart. They would never sell to BMW without compromising their legacy. Look what happened with Honda and now with BMW. Williams wants nothing to do with those shenanigans.

[BDunnell]

And BTW I agree with teh thread starter Williams are just a bunch of grumpy people who do nothing else but oppose everyone and treat their drivers as merchandise. :\

No, you don't agree with the thread starter, because the point made in the first post is rather more nuanced than yours.

I agree with the more reasoned comments above. It's a case of wanting to remain independent and protecting business interests. Nothing more. Fair play to them, if that's how they want to go about things.

[Hawkmoon]

Rather than focus on one issue, it's Williams stance on a range of issues that intrigues me. Why have Williams consistently been on the opposite side of an issue than the majority of the other teams? It's almost like they're playing that child's game of "opposites". Whatever you say the child does the opposite.

Surely it's not petulance. Is Sir Frank trying to be as difficult as he can because he can't seem to get his cars back to the front? Seems out of character.

[wedge]

Why have Williams consistently been on the opposite side of an issue than the majority of the other teams? It's almost like they're playing that child's game of "opposites". Whatever you say the child does the opposite.

Surely it's not petulance. Is Sir Frank trying to be as difficult as he can because he can't seem to get his cars back to the front? Seems out of character.

As I said earlier, Williams have developed their own 'unique' KERS system which they spent time and money on.

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/people/254890/williams-f1-hybrid-kers.html

[djparky]

I can see why they would object to 3 car teams-

aside from anything else can you imagine the mind numbing boredom of seeing 3 Ferrari's and 3 Maclarens locking out the top 6 week after week- especially if Schumi was in one of those red cars- with the others dutifully tootling around behing him

[TMorel]

Maybe if Mercedes are allowed to provide engines to unlimted teams then Frank will allow Ferraris 7 car team (or how ever many drivers they have now)

I *DON'T* agree with him blocking increased brakedisk sizes though.

[gshevlin]

Williams are merely defending their interests, as I would expect them to do. Because of their non-involvement with manufacturer stakeholders, and the fact that F1 is their only business, those interests are not identical to those of some other teams.
When we see Williams defending their possible use of KERS, we should remember that at least 2 of Williams' drivetrain projects in the past have been rendered moot by FIA regulation changes in a non-consultative way. The Williams 6-wheel car project of 1981-1982 was rendered irrelevant when the FIA changed the regulations to say that cars could only have 4 wheels. In 1992 their CVT project was rendered irrelevant when the FIA banned any form of CVT transmission. IMHO that latter ban was deeply at odds with the interests of road car manufacturers, for whom a true lightweight CVT system would have been a highly useful and very "green" part of a drivetrain solution.
Now FOTA is trying to do what the FIA did to Williams in the past - ban a technology where they have done a lot of R&D for their own version of the technology. Since Williams is back as a FOTA member, they are using their membership and their KERS project as a bargaining tool, but I believe that they are genuinely interested in racing it. Like many teams this year, they do not have the track testing time to refine it to the point where they can safely race it.
The whining about Williams is misplaced. They are simply defending their own interests, like all businesses do.