Williams blues

[zako85]

I remember that 2011 was one of Williams's worst seasons in history. They didn't score any points until 6th race. Back then there were already quite a bit of articles in the press about it. Cosworth engine was blamed. For some reason no one is noticing Williams's lack of success this time around. At this rate, it looks like 2013 might be their worst season in decades.

[Ranger]

I was wondering if anyone else noticed that Bottas was fighting with Pic's Caterham for position... :\

[steveaki13]

I was wondering if anyone else noticed that Bottas was fighting with Pic's Caterham for position... :\

Just to make myself look like a smartie pants. : I noticed and posted this in the Driver of the Day thread.

Pic - won the backmarker race and chased a Williams all day

It is worrying though to see Williams back down there. Especially after last year when they seemed to have found something major.

[donKey jote]

at least they managed to pass a Merc this time

[dj_bytedisaster]

God knows what got into the Williams folk to ditch a decent car like last year's and go for a radical new design in a transition year. It didn't work for Mclaren it didn#t work for them. Why can't they just revert back to last year's car? Everything's got to be better than the paperweight they came up with for 2013.

[DexDexter]

God knows what got into the Williams folk to ditch a decent car like last year's and go for a radical new design in a transition year. It didn't work for Mclaren it didn#t work for them. Why can't they just revert back to last year's car? Everything's got to be better than the paperweight they came up with for 2013.

According to Mika Salo, Bottas, at least would like to switch to last year's car.

[jens]

So McLaren and Williams are in the same boat - two legendary teams struggling badly. Is this the sign of long-term decline? For Williams it has of course lasted for some time, but by now it has become truly serious - before now they were at least a strong midfield outfit.

Wonder, how did it get so wrong, because 2012 was truly promising. After 2011 Williams had a shake-up in the technical department and much of the progress of 2012 was attributed to Coughlan & Co. But to no long-term avail, it seems.

[truefan72]

So McLaren and Williams are in the same boat - two legendary teams struggling badly. Is this the sign of long-term decline? For Williams it has of course lasted for some time, but by now it has become truly serious - before now they were at least a strong midfield outfit.

Wonder, how did it get so wrong, because 2012 was truly promising. After 2011 Williams had a shake-up in the technical department and much of the progress of 2012 was attributed to Coughlan & Co. But to no long-term avail, it seems.

Mclaren don't stay down for long. But it has been a disturbing pattern, and for some reason especially on odd numbered years of late. They simply don't get their development right at the start of the year. in 2012 they did, but not in 2009 & 2011.

As for Williams, and back on topic. I think this will go down as a major blunder and a completely wasted opportunity. They changes the entire car for the sake of change and the typical F1 mentality that "you got to have a different car next year" philosophy. Despite having the 4th/5th best car on the grid last year, and arguably a race winner with better results in store if not of some boneheaded maldonado moves. They only needed to touch it up here and there, then save the radical design process for 2014. they have wasted 2013 for no good reason. I'm with Bottas. Try out the 2012 car for a race weekend and see how things shake out. At this point they got nothing to lose. perhaps for Canada. Barcelona would have been the ideal track to test it out, as they would have gotten a very good baseline correlation to the 2013 car. But teams, especially Williams, are stubborn to a fault and along with mclaren and sauber, have gotten the 2013 car completely wrong.

[jens]

Umm... I disagree with the "let's try out last year's car" statements in the case of any of the teams in question (McLaren, Williams, Sauber). When was the last time that car actually got some new development parts? November last year? Even if it was competitive last year, it has fallen well behind by now. If any of those teams decided to ditch their 'revolutionary' design and go with last year's car, they should have made a quick decision during winter testing. Now we are already five races into the season and it is too late.

[zako85]

I think their problems go beyond the engineering decisions. Williams is not bold enough. It's very hard to succeed in F1 if you always play it safe. They're pinching pennies. They hire pay drivers. They really care about the bottom line at the end of fiscal year. In their worst years, sometimes they're not even in red. If the 2012 Williams car was fast, just imagine what someone like Raikonnen could have done with it. Maldonado's win in Spain 2011 now is starting to look almost as random as J.R. Hildebrand's 2nd place finish in 2011 Indy 500.

Now look at the opposite end of spectrum, the Lotus F1. Lotus F1 is a team with similar resources. It seems like in the last two years Lotus F1 has gone completely broke. They owned money to Renault for engines, they owned money for Kimi's 2012 contract(s), they owned money to their sponsor Lotus Cars, who threatened to take over team assets if they don't repay on time. And yet, boy have they delivered! The comeback of Lotus (the former Renault/Benetton/whatever) was the most exciting thing to watch in the last couple of years. Easily my favorite team right now.