2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

[Raleigh]

Early days but 8th and 11th in FP1 looks a little more promising.

[bill shoe]

Chris Medland on the Williams reality. Is Williams a front-runner struggling to return to the front of the grid, or are they simple a rear-midfield team?

https://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/i ... ul-reality

I think in recent years when other teams shot themselves in the foot with political problems, funding instability, or overt technical problems then Williams was good enough to pounce and move up the championship. But in 2018 the other midfield teams increasingly have their sh!t together. There are no sickly animals to pick off the herd?

So arguably Williams are currently doing no better and no worse than the past several seasons. It's their competitive environment that's changing.

[bill shoe]

Early days but 8th and 11th in FP1 looks a little more promising.

After FP2, still looks OK. Mercedes is allowing a little more qualy power this weekend, and the track is a total wildcard: narrow street course with high speeds and gusty wind. For sure Williams have a realistic chance to start in decent position, work thru the likely chaos in front, and score points this weekend.

[Raleigh]

Chris Medland on the Williams reality. Is Williams a front-runner struggling to return to the front of the grid, or are they simple a rear-midfield team?

https://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/i ... ul-reality

I think in recent years when other teams shot themselves in the foot with political problems, funding instability, or overt technical problems then Williams was good enough to pounce and move up the championship. But in 2018 the other midfield teams increasingly have their sh!t together. There are no sickly animals to pick off the herd?

So arguably Williams are currently doing no better and no worse than the past several seasons. It's their competitive environment that's changing.

No matter how much other teams may have dropped the ball 2014 was not a midfield performance by Williams, much less lower-midfield.

9 podiums, a front row lockout in Austria after Mercedes slipped up, more than one chance at a race win (unfortunately missed chances) and by the end of the season Williams were beating Red Bull more often than not, outright second only to Mercedes on pace.

What Williams should have done next is develop the 2015 car through the season and into 2016 (after all this car was still good enough for 3rd in 2015), essentially running the same car for 2 years while focusing their resources on the 2017 regulation change. Such a course of action would probably have lead to a strong 3rd or 4th in 2016 and 2017.

Unfortunately Williams chose to drop 2015 development, gamble heavily on a more radical 2016 car that didn't work, resulting in Pat Symonds leaving the team and severely compromising 2017 as well. I have no idea why Williams decided to focus so heavily on the last year of a set of regulations, even if the 2016 car had been great they still would have lost out going into 2017.

I would argue then that budget notwithstanding, Williams has significantly under performed compared to their potential since the second half of 2015, and that with a better development strategy Williams could have been much closer to the front in 2016/2017 finishing at least 4th in both years.

[FW17]

Chris Medland on the Williams reality. Is Williams a front-runner struggling to return to the front of the grid, or are they simple a rear-midfield team?

https://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints/i ... ul-reality

I think in recent years when other teams shot themselves in the foot with political problems, funding instability, or overt technical problems then Williams was good enough to pounce and move up the championship. But in 2018 the other midfield teams increasingly have their sh!t together. There are no sickly animals to pick off the herd?

So arguably Williams are currently doing no better and no worse than the past several seasons. It's their competitive environment that's changing.

No matter how much other teams may have dropped the ball 2014 was not a midfield performance by Williams, much less lower-midfield.

9 podiums, a front row lockout in Austria after Mercedes slipped up, more than one chance at a race win (unfortunately missed chances) and by the end of the season Williams were beating Red Bull more often than not, outright second only to Mercedes on pace.

What Williams should have done next is develop the 2015 car through the season and into 2016 (after all this car was still good enough for 3rd in 2015), essentially running the same car for 2 years while focusing their resources on the 2017 regulation change. Such a course of action would probably have lead to a strong 3rd or 4th in 2016 and 2017.

Unfortunately Williams chose to drop 2015 development, gamble heavily on a more radical 2016 car that didn't work, resulting in Pat Symonds leaving the team and severely compromising 2017 as well. I have no idea why Williams decided to focus so heavily on the last year of a set of regulations, even if the 2016 car had been great they still would have lost out going into 2017.

I would argue then that budget notwithstanding, Williams has significantly under performed compared to their potential since the second half of 2015, and that with a better development strategy Williams could have been much closer to the front in 2016/2017 finishing at least 4th in both years.

Williams with their Merc engine were rumored to be 90 hp over Renault and Ferrari; the only team they beat was Mclaren and Force India

They made a mistake of letting go Pastor Maldonado and his 40 Million; which would have given them a better 2014 and 2015 financially

The issue with team has always been a poooooooooor design team, 2011 bad, 2012 good, 2013 bad, 2014 good, 2015 good, 2016 bad, 2017 bad, 2018 bad

The team cant build on an evolution of the same design, it was a problem even in 2000-05 period

[Raleigh]

Williams with their Merc engine were rumored to be 90 hp over Renault and Ferrari; the only team they beat was Mclaren and Force India

They made a mistake of letting go Pastor Maldonado and his 40 Million; which would have given them a better 2014 and 2015 financially

The issue with team has always been a poooooooooor design team, 2011 bad, 2012 good, 2013 bad, 2014 good, 2015 good, 2016 bad, 2017 bad, 2018 bad

The team cant build on an evolution of the same design, it was a problem even in 2000-05 period

Even relative to Mercedes the 2014 Williams was seriously fast by the end of the season, you had races like Russia where Bottas went purple in the first 2 sectors and only failed to snatch pole because he got the car a bit sideways in Sector 3 and ended up 0.4 off Lewis. Or Brazil where Massa was 2 tenths behind Rosberg on Pole and Bottas only another 0.05s further back. You can't argue engine advantage when Williams was legitimately keeping the works Mercedes team on their toes in qualifying.

I think Williams did alright out of Maldonado leaving by the way, he brought his way out of the contract for a $25M payment in 2014 and then of course the Pdvsa money evaporated less than 2 years later (if I recall correctly without completely paying Lotus for the 2015 season).

[Sevach]

Well... this looks like the best chance of points yet, i hope team and drivers don't throw it away.

[netoperek]

They won't get anyway near that Q pace in race I'm affraid. Car was overheating like a bad toaster all the time this weekend.

[Fulcrum]

Is this appropriate for this thread?

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/inte ... rview.html

[bill shoe]

Some points .

But other back-field teams also scored points. Williams are still last (tenth) in constructors, 6 points behind Sauber, 7 points behind Haas, 9 behind Toro Rosso, and 12 behind Force India.

[netoperek]

It seems Lance is slowly maturing. That's a good sign. I rate him a bit higher than, hmm let's say Palmer caliber, so he could be a solid nr 2 in some lower midfield team on merit, with some time. Sergey has given no evidence of his incredible talents yet again this weekend. He lost his cool with hitting Perez first, then lacked spatial awarness or focus to avoid what happened after. I wonder how much longer can Williams tolerate such situation. Being last in constructors can cost them more than he is paying them.
On the positive side, the car isn't that bad after all.

[skwdenyer]

Is this appropriate for this thread?

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/inte ... rview.html

She talks the talk, certainly.

[ME4ME]

Williams most aggressive by far in Spain tyre picks
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/will ... s-1032504/

What are they thinking
They wont have enought Softs to both test and race them. Typical example of being stupidly aggressive.

[PhillipM]

Resurfaced track, thinner tyres that will run colder....not a bad gamble to make to be honest.

[ME4ME]

Well they got to run something other than the Supersofts in at least one stint. Whether the Medium is the way to go is rather uncertain. Now they pretty much have no choice - or they'll race a untested tire. To me it's the same madness that Ferrari used to do.