Williams FW31

[djos]

What is really the problem for this team? Car seems fast enough, one of the drivers was considered a boy-wonder a few years ago and the management has a wealth of experience.

But still no results to exactly brag about?

Honestly I think Niko is overrated, if he was as good as some would have us believe, Webber wouldn't have out scored Niko in Points and walloped him in Qualifying (both had major reliability issues in races - the Cosworth & GB where too fragile).

Just look at Vettel, he is the real deal and is the 1st team mate Webber has ever had that is as fast if not faster than him (as a massive Webber fan that is really hard to say - when Webber retires BoyWonder will be my new favorite F1 Driver.)

[ISLAMATRON]

Nico is not doing much for himself thus far this season, especially with free agency on the horizon, hopefully he can pick it up.

I dont wish ill on anyone, but KAzoo is really holding this team back and may need a benching... I'm sure there are other toyota youngsters that they could run instead of him.

I'm not totally convinced that Vettle is already better than Webber, but he is starting to change my mind... I honestly never saw this much potential in Vettle... his first race was pretty unimpressive, and his first half season with STR was inconclusive to me... but man has he started to come on strong. But lets not forget how he threw it away in Malaysia, and some say in Austrailia as well... but I place that blame squarely on Kubica.

[xpensive]

But the drivers are obviously chosen by the team, where Williams and Head were known to let WDCs go when they so pleased, have they lost it or is there something else missing here?

Money of course, but other than that?

[djos]

But the drvers are obviously chosen by the team, have Williams and Head lost it or is there something else missing here? Money of course, but other than that?

Kazzoo is prolly Subsidising the Toyota Engines and Nikko is quick and Marketable but apparently lacks a bit of mental toughness and the ability to drive a car past its limits.

[xpensive]

But again, I still don't get it. When Williams was known to let WDCs go when they so pleased, do they now have to make do with a pay-driver and the marketable britney-spears kind, thought pride ran a little deeper than that?

[ESPImperium]

Williams now have Red Bull/STR eske rear wing end plates that go all the way down to the diffuser.

[donskar]

But again, I still don't get it. When Williams was known to let WDCs go when they so pleased, do they now have to make do with a pay-driver and the marketable britney-spears kind, thought pride ran a little deeper than that?

Williams is a sad case, for a lot of reasons:

I think Patrick Head has not kept up technically (certainly the tech team overall is no longer top shelf). For example, I always thought Sam Michaels was mainly a technical spokesperson and I was surprised when he was elevated to a much more ersponsible role.

If I'm totally wrong in the above, then it does seem undeniable that Williams lacks either the human, technical or financial resources to match the development rate and quality of the top tier teams.

Yes, I do think Williams is at or near the point where they might have to take a pay-driver in order to get manufacturer assistance. An excess of pride in the past has forced them to swallow their pride now.

Having said all that, I'd love to see Williams retake their position near the top.

[Scania]

williams new rear wing end plate

[djos]

I was wondering when someone would get around to copying the RB5 rear wing and integrated diffuser! =D>

[xpensive]

For donskar: I think you wrapped-up the situation quite nicely, when MrE's latest money-injection is consumed, things can turn very ugly I'm afraid. Imagine only four years ago, they were a top-team supported by BMW and HP?

[WhiteBlue]

I'm afraid it is the same old weakness that has plagued Williams the last 5 years. Their aero department sucks. They obviously became aware of the DDD loop hole and should have utilized that like Toyota or Brawn. According to comments I heard they screwed up the front once again. They experience understear and overstear similar to what happened with last years design. It looks to me as if their front end is the problem again and not the drivers.

[xpensive]

But still, even with decent qualifying pace, they seem to be unable to materialize any results to speak of?

[vasia]

I think a combination of not enough pace from the car along with bad strategy has yielded Williams very little results.

[axle]

I think the light* flybrid system could be the making of the FW31. The sooner it's on the better.


*compared to the battery systems

[kilcoo316]

According to comments I heard they screwed up the front once again.

I heard rumours in the past Williams have (until recently) been using panel methods to design their front end...


Which would of course fit in well with crap front end grip!