Williams blues

[zako85]

PS: sorry I meant "owed", not owned

[webberf1]

Although Lotus have lost their technical director recently. We'll see how much that hinders them in the next 12 months or so.

[wedge]

Williams is not bold enough.

They are.

They have copied RBR's tunnels and they're not working properly.

[Jordan Fan]

Does anyone know what the problems are with this years Williams?

[steveaki13]

One issue as someone raised above is that Williams appear to have scraped development on a decent 2012 car and instead gone a different route which hasn't worked.

All the more suprising when you consider the changes coming next season.

[Hawkmoon]

The problems aren't just with the 2013 car. Williams haven't produced a competitive car since 2003. Even the 2012 car was only a midfield runner despite the Barcelona victory. You have to go back to 1997 to find the last Williams that was a true championship contender.

Whatever problems Williams have are deep-seated and I can't see them getting back to the front. They no longer attract high profile sponsors so you have to question their financial strength. No top driver will give them a second glance, just look at Hamilton's disgust at being passed by a Williams. Williams are following the same path that Brabham, Tyrell and Lotus followed before them. Those teams were not able to survive the decline or demise of the men who founded them. Frank Williams and Patrick Head are no longer able to keep the team at the front as they did in the past and have failed to pass the torch to somebody who can.

I think the only thing that is preventing Williams from being sold off to the highest bidder is Sir Frank himself. He's no longer a young man so how much longer will he remain in charge? He's already stepped back in certain areas and even if he passes the team to his children will they have the same drive that their father has possessed for 30+ years to keep the Williams name in F1?

[dj_bytedisaster]

The problem is that Williams lost just about everything after 1997. The Newey cars were so well designed, even people like Hill and Villeneuve could win in them. Suddenly Newey was gone, the works engine, too and I doubt Winfield payed as much as Rothmans. There was a resurgence with BMW, but even then it was more the engine and the Michelin advantage that saved them. In engineering terms they never recovered from Newey's departure.

[Ranger]

The problems aren't just with the 2013 car. Williams haven't produced a competitive car since 2003. Even the 2012 car was only a midfield runner despite the Barcelona victory. You have to go back to 1997 to find the last Williams that was a true championship contender.

Whatever problems Williams have are deep-seated and I can't see them getting back to the front. They no longer attract high profile sponsors so you have to question their financial strength. No top driver will give them a second glance, just look at Hamilton's disgust at being passed by a Williams. Williams are following the same path that Brabham, Tyrell and Lotus followed before them. Those teams were not able to survive the decline or demise of the men who founded them. Frank Williams and Patrick Head are no longer able to keep the team at the front as they did in the past and have failed to pass the torch to somebody who can.

I think the only thing that is preventing Williams from being sold off to the highest bidder is Sir Frank himself. He's no longer a young man so how much longer will he remain in charge? He's already stepped back in certain areas and even if he passes the team to his children will they have the same drive that their father has possessed for 30+ years to keep the Williams name in F1?

I also doubt that nepotism is the right way to go. Obviously Williams was very fond of Adam Parr who might have been an heir - and he did seem like he knew what he was doing, but Bernie had him booted for ruffling too many feathers.

Other problems:
- Having slow or atrociously inconsistent drivers who nonetheless bring small fortunes of sponsorship.
- Failing to otherwise secure decent sponsorship. I think this is a lot more deep-seated than just lacking the results to attract potential sponsors. The BMW issue highlighted this, and although they did eventually quit, Williams could possibly have been less ham-fisted about it.
- Improper technical direction. 2006-2010 were half-decent for the team apart from several front-running races (Monaco '06, Singapore '08, Malaysia '09, Singapore '09), most of which were scuttled by something - penalties or engine blow-ups. I thought maybe it was the technical director, but 2 years after he left they produced another truly rubbish car. So it is something more deeply amiss.

Lastly a quote about team culture. I think that maybe likening Jaguar and modern-day Williams is not all that irrelevant. Maybe all it needs is a different approach, which doesn't seem to be forthcoming...

Q: The team is currently riding high, but it hasn’t always been the case. What were the darkest moments for the two of you?

Adrian Newey: Oh yes…developing the company from the ashes of Jaguar. That was a lot of work, as it was much more than just developing a new infrastructure. It was developing a whole new culture and setting the standards of how we want to go about things…
Christian Horner: … we wanted to develop a ‘can do’ structure. It was the opposite of what existed at Jaguar - a corporation trying to run a corner shop. It was a completely different mentality. Now we have a mentality where no task is too big.

Formula 1® - The Official F1® Website

[jens]

Organizational culture is a very interesting aspect and perhaps they key aspect to any success or lack of it. It is something, which can't really be measured with devices, but only felt. And it is the hardest part to build. You can hire/sack some people, this can be done within days. But changing the general culture would take years regardless of the small steps.

Let's look at Mercedes. They have bought together a big bunch of engineers, yet are still merely in the upper midfield (or IN midfield later in the seasons).

Regardless of how much credit people want to give to Newey for RBR's success, it is clearly the general athmosphere and harmony in the team, which enables to deliver at the highest level. After all, McLaren didn't enjoy that much success together with Newey before that, especially in the 2000's.

What's wrong with Williams? They really tried to change the design team in 2011, I give them that. Yet it hasn't solved fundamental issues. What issue? If I am telling honestly, I don't get an energetic youthful vibe from Williams. For many years it has left an impression of a team, who is just dying a slow death rather than building up something. Frank Williams - as great as he is - certainly isn't as energetic as he was 20 years ago.

Maybe this is what Mercedes is trying to change now. They are bringing in the new energy and fresh ideas in the form of Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe. Perhaps this could be the turning point for the team. Ross Brawn, as great as he is, perhaps hasn't been the right man to lead the Mercedes revival ANY MORE. Just like the Frank hasn't been in the Team Willy any more. Time has changed, energy has changed. Harsh reality, but like drivers can become "past their prime", so can the leaders.

Sorry for bringing other teams in, I just try to analyze in a wider context. What can save Williams from a slide? A completely new leadership, new owners, new energy, completely new ideas and culture, new sources of funding, new business plans with a blank sheet of paper. You can just take a look at what Genii Capital has done to Lotus-Renault, which was also sliding into oblivion previously. Or what has Mallya & Co done to the former Jordan team, which had become a firm backmarker under the previous disguises.

The losses of Parr and Wolff haven't helped Williams, but they were also "minor inclusions" to put it this way, not a complete overhaul. And in the case of Wolff he has seen a greater opportunity for himself than the Williams team. This means that most deep fundamentals of the team have to be changed, because Lopez and Mallya have not run away from their teams - these are their teams literally.

Time has moved on, time for a complete overhaul is the conclusive thought I can say. There would be unhappiness about the loss of the "classical Williams" team by many people, but this can't be helped, can it?

[zako85]

I suspect part of the problems with Williams is the inability to associate with a major sponsor, corporation, or manufacturer post its Renault era. Williams BMW had some good years, but after a string of bad seasons, BMW was pissed off and wanted to change things. Frank Williams refused to sell the team. BMW bought Sauber and Williams switched to Cosworth engines after 2005. It went downhill for Williams from there. I think the truly rich sponsors don't feel comfortable any more giving lots of money without owning the team.