2019 Williams F1 Team - Mercedes

[munudeges]

No, Segedunum, the TD is not supposed to tell the aero guys what to do, his job is to direct them and utilize them and their abilities.

He directs the technical thrust of the team. he does not design. he does not CFD. He manages.

Claptrap. Try telling that to Williams and McLaren given how far they have fallen. [Or take it up with Adrian Newey's or John Barnard's trophy cabinets]. The TD can never, ever have the wool pulled over his eyes. The clue is in the job title 'Technical Director'.

[munudeges]

I don't have time to go read everything, but is not the general opinion of everyone in F1 and this forum that Paddy Lowe is a competent individual? As in one of the more competent in the sport?

I'm sure he is competent at many things, but being a TD is an entirely different kettle of fish.

[Unc1eM0nty]

Oh I've seen the footage of Newey in his office doodling on the drawing board, I just don't see what it has to do with the finished product, which is the result of hundreds of peoples hard work, and and hours and hours of wind tunnel and CDF simulation time.

To think Newey could do all of they this with just a few pen stokes, to know just by looking at something that its going to work, well, that's what Gary Anderson what put on earth for

[McMika98]

Oh I've seen the footage of Newey in his office doodling on the drawing board, I just don't see what it has to do with the finished product, which is the result of hundreds of peoples hard work, and and hours and hours of wind tunnel and CDF simulation time.

To think Newey could do all of they this with just a few pen stokes, to know just by looking at something that its going to work, well, that's what Gary Anderson what put on earth for

Just like Steve jobs didnt create any of the apple products yet take the lion share of credit. However you have to admire their attention to detail, drive for perfection and resoluteness which pushes/leads those hundreds of people in the right direction. Put simply they have a formula for success, so yes the captain of the ship makes a huge deal unless of course if the ship is already sinking. Btw Paddy isnt in the same class.

[zeph]

No, Segedunum, the TD is not supposed to tell the aero guys what to do, his job is to direct them and utilize them and their abilities.

Careful here, Giblet. You're talking to the guy who predicted Mercedes would abandon F1 because they were not competitive in 2010.

[Raleigh]

Adrian Newey was an F1 designer first and technical director second, I'm sure he does still actively work on design. Paddy Lowe was an engineer before he became a technical director. That isn't the same thing.

And btw, given both his speciality in aero design and 30+ years of experience I'm sure Newey can tell you (roughly) how something is going to work just looking at it.

[munudeges]

Careful here, Giblet. You're talking to the guy who predicted Mercedes would abandon F1 because they were not competitive in 2010.

Good thing the engine department and a nice new set of regulations came to their rescue. Do try harder dear.

[munudeges]

Just like Steve jobs didnt create any of the apple products yet take the lion share of credit.

Steve Jobs very much set the direction, set the bar and set the parameters and that was what his team of people then had to meet and work towards. He had an idea in his own mind, but if someone came up with something better that's what they'd do. What he didn't do was leave people to their own devices to see what they came up with and he was technically sound enough to know when someone was pulling the wool over his eyes.

[RonDennis]

I don't have time to go read everything, but is not the general opinion of everyone in F1 and this forum that Paddy Lowe is a competent individual? As in one of the more competent in the sport?

I am having a lot of trouble believing all the manure I am reading online from "fans of the sport".

"He just rode Brawn's coattails" etc.

I think Lowe is talented, but I don't feel like he's a real leader. He might be great when everything is going fine, but at Williams he wanted to change everything. Lowe probably tried to do too much in too little time, which resulted in this complete mess. It's always easy to say that the whole team is to blame, but that's something we've seen at McLaren with their flat structure. Everyone is pointing fingers at each other, without taking any responsibilities. They're simply too late in my opinion, because all the staff that was highly regarded and available all went to Renault and McLaren. I wouldn't be surprised when Williams will go for some of the guys that left McLaren last year.

[roy928tt]

My belief is that Paddy Lowe was brought back to Williams because they had fond memories of him.

Not because he was the most competent Technical Director on the planet, and that is an illustration of the kind of thinking that is blighting Williams.

[zeph]

It seems there is some misunderstanding about what a Technical Director is and/or does. Ross Brawn is probably the right person to explain it (relevant bit starts at 12m26s):

[bill shoe]

Incredible interview. I think the relevant bit begins at 0:02 and goes until roughly 52:35. Ross Brawn is a giant of F1 Engineering who spans the 70's through to the current Mercedes team. His success is undisputed. This video makes me respect him even more. Notes-

1. He was a college drop out (yay!, I can relate!) who simply absorbed himself into F1 thru talent instead of credentials. He was hired into F1 (Williams) because the first choice for the position (the credentials person) didn't fit well with the team.

2. Yes, great explanation of the Tech Director role at 12:26.

3. He talks about the people synergy during the Ferrari golden era. They had great resources and raw talent, but they also had a mature wisdom about how to run an F1 team. They won 4 championships in a row and could have won a couple more if not for the FIA tire meddling. Schumacher was the young one, but despite all of his son-of-a-bitchness he genuinely had mature wisdom and cooperation beyond his years.

4. The Brawn GP era was an awkward choice rather than a clever plan. It was not a "real situation" that can ever be repeated. Ross's contribution was to buy time by informing Honda that winding down the F1 team would take 3 months. Honda accepted this because they really had no alternative. Honda was expecting to turn the lights out literally the day they informed Ross, but Ross said the turn-off-the-lights procedure took 3 months due to redundancy regulations, and this bit of time-buying became the genesis of Brawn GP.

5. He says they could have probably sold Brawn GP for more money to other bidders, but they thought the best long-term future was with Mercedes.

6. In a display of staggering personal clarity and confidence, he bluntly talks about how he failed early-on in the Mercedes era by letting Mercedes talk themselves into paying for a team of only 450 people when the competition had 700. He explains how Toto came in and gave a couple strong presentations to the board and convinced them to either "pull out" or "go for it". The result of Toto's presentation was that Mercedes quickly upped their game to the 900 people they have now. Ross quit because he determined he'd failed Mercedes and then he decided there were too many cooks in the kitchen. It's reeeaaaaalllly rare to have a genuine blunt assessment of someone's own personal failings. Ross talks about this without any awkwardness or hesitation. Can't put into words how impressive this is. This is what Williams really needs right now.

[nzjrs]

Incredible interview. I think the relevant bit begins at 0:02 and goes until roughly 52:35.

Indeed. Absolutely fantastic.

[Shakeman]

Yes, I saw that posted elsewhere. Not always a fan of Peter really, and I do think his affection for Frank is absolving him of a lot of blame, but the question remains. The succession based on understanding racing at its core should have been so simple. Why? With Claire and the hangers-on what they got was a ton of nothing more than corporate bull and an endless stream of bad decisions and bad recruitment. In a way I hope the thing crashes down so Jonny can at least have a go at doing something.

It's bizarre. When Williams were a winning machine the one team I thought would end up in a never-ending and fatal death spiral of nasty, Machiavellian corporate politics was Ferrari. I would never have put money on it being Williams.

Yes, I agree, I think Frank is culpable for the situation the team finds itself in and more fingers should be pointed in his direction.

I'm sure many of us have worked with incompetent colleagues who by a marriage or other family relationship have been promoted way beyond their competency level, my partner is currently in exactly this position right now working with an absolutely incompetent colleague who is making life hell for the whole team and costing the company tens of thousands of pounds. I think Paddy came to the conclusion, the same conclusion my partner will eventually come to, that nothing is going to change so you're better off leaving.

Sometimes there's a rot in the company that goes right to the very core of the operation and cannot be simply excised. If Sir Frank Williams has any influence left in the company that bears his name he should muster the strength and sort it out.

Rob Smedley left, another who had proven himself at the very highest level at Ferrari who didn't go to Williams to take early retirement and obviously thought or was lead to believe there was an opportunity to turn things around. It didn't take long for him to come to the conclusion he's wasting his time unless you're extremely naïve and believe a man at the prime of his professional career really wanted to spend more time at home with the kids.

[munudeges]

Rob Smedley left, another who had proven himself at the very highest level at Ferrari who didn't go to Williams to take early retirement and obviously thought or was lead to believe there was an opportunity to turn things around.

I never rated Smedley that highly to move from being a race engineer, but now we're getting a glimpse as to just how much of a nasty mess that team is internally, you've got to give him the benefit of the doubt. I respect people who can bow out gracefully and effectively say "This isn't for me" without causing a fuss. However, sometimes things are so bad you need to create a fuss.

Maybe I've been too hard on Paddy. I don't rate the guy's background to be a TD, but perhaps he's found a way of gracefully saying "I'm out." Frankly, he should have done this much sooner. If you have the Team Principal firmly on your side then you can perhaps do something, but it's not clear that's ever been the case. Post Adrian Newey, and long before Claire supposedly took over, the team has gone through a worrying number of personnel.