Dodgy deal?

[Londoner]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96333

Yet more potential woe for Williams. I get this horrible feeling that in a few years time, the Williams article on the main site will be updated, with the team following Brabham and Lotus from a dominant team to backmarkers and eventually leaving F1.

[TheBigJ]

The Reverend will be confined to rejectdom....

[Guzuky]

What a sad thing is to see the Williams team in this kind of circumstances. If this is 'the way forward' they should quit F1 and compete yearly in Le Mans where they can salvage some prestige

[nome66]

looks like williams should have cut and run when Tyrrel did back in '98.
although they did see many positives afterward like '02-'05. those were some good years for williams.

[JJMonty]

You can only hope that the Renault engines next year will help them out - it will be amazing if their only problem was the engines!

Williams have succeded in the past due to having exculsive engine deals - bringing a manufactor back/to the sport and getting full use of the engines, they did it with Honda, Renault and BMW.

The only way I can see Williams enjoy the glory days again is a technical reshuffle (check), new driver line up? From a financial point of view, it would make sense to just fill in the seats with pay drivers who can keep them afloat until the new rules come in - though if Barrichello is willing to pay for his seat, then I can't see why he can't stay either - he proved in Abu Dubai that he still has the speed... just need him to do that at every race again! (Though I still question how they can say he brings good development skills to the car due to his sheer experience after seeing how this year's car turned out).

Hopefully the Renault engines will make designing the car a lot easier (other cars use the engine so they can copy their engine covers to suit their own car), try and get points on a regular basis - whilst trying to get manufacture backing again and be ready for the new rule changes. 1.6 Turbos, I can still see Audi being interested but might just brand it under a VW badge. Someone in Germany will get the bug to try and beat Mercedes, it has happened in the past and will happen again!

[Salamander]

Someone in Germany will get the bug to try and beat Mercedes, it has happened in the past and will happen again!

I highly doubt we'll see VW/Audi on the grid for quite a while, if ever. They've been banded about for years and it's never come to anything - the 1.6 turbos were an excellent chance for them to show their interest and they were incredibly half-assed about it at best. If they do get the urge to beat Mercedes, it won't be until Mercedes is a serious contender again; right now, all they're doing is showcasing an excellent way to waste money.

[Phoenix]

looks like williams should have cut and run when Tyrrel did back in '98.
although they did see many positives afterward like '02-'05. those were some good years for williams.

Why do you think so? They were the reigning World Champions, they have money to burn, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Patrick Head still having a substantial input in the car's design and the chance to lure a manufacturer, which would happen with BMW. For that matter, they should have quit in 1988.

Williams have succeded in the past due to having exculsive engine deals - bringing a manufactor back/to the sport and getting full use of the engines, they did it with Honda, Renault and BMW.

Sadly, that's pretty much the way Williams needs to get back to the top, but it won't be easy now that we're on a GEC and no new manufacturers are seriously considering entering the sport, even with the new rules set for 2014. All they can hope for is that Mike Coughlan will design a good car and they can keep that PDVSA deal, and then try and get the best out of Pastor Maldonado and see if they can snare Kimi Räikkönen, or, if not, at least Adrian Sutil if he does leave Force India.

[DanielPT]

looks like williams should have cut and run when Tyrrel did back in '98.
although they did see many positives afterward like '02-'05. those were some good years for williams.

Why do you think so? They were the reigning World Champions, they have money to burn, Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Patrick Head still having a substantial input in the car's design and the chance to lure a manufacturer, which would happen with BMW. For that matter, they should have quit in 1988.

Williams have succeded in the past due to having exculsive engine deals - bringing a manufactor back/to the sport and getting full use of the engines, they did it with Honda, Renault and BMW.

Sadly, that's pretty much the way Williams needs to get back to the top, but it won't be easy now that we're on a GEC and no new manufacturers are seriously considering entering the sport, even with the new rules set for 2014. All they can hope for is that Mike Coughlan will design a good car and they can keep that PDVSA deal, and then try and get the best out of Pastor Maldonado and see if they can snare Kimi Räikkönen, or, if not, at least Adrian Sutil if he does leave Force India.

It is never too soon for Geely International to enter F1. They have the cash, they could back Williams. I think this pair has everything needed to be epic!

[FMecha]

^Except that it would be extremely rejectful.

[DanielPT]

^Except that it would be extremely rejectful.

Epically rejectful!

[mario]

Someone in Germany will get the bug to try and beat Mercedes, it has happened in the past and will happen again!

I highly doubt we'll see VW/Audi on the grid for quite a while, if ever. They've been banded about for years and it's never come to anything - the 1.6 turbos were an excellent chance for them to show their interest and they were incredibly half-assed about it at best. If they do get the urge to beat Mercedes, it won't be until Mercedes is a serious contender again; right now, all they're doing is showcasing an excellent way to waste money.

Especially considering that the 1.6l turbo engines were basically written to give the VW Group what they wanted (VW sent a representative to the engine discussions from the start, and Newey did reveal that the four cylinder design only came in because VW requested it, only to promptly walk out when the other engine manufacturers baulked at other changes VW were demanding).

On top of that, bear in mind that VW's is currently expanding its racing program in other areas - they are developing a new WRC car, and Porsche is now developing a LMP1 class car (thought to possibly be a petrol hybrid entry to counter Toyota's new LMP1 car), and neither program is going to be cheap. Yes, VW's turnover is prodigious, but whether they'll be willing to cough up the resources for an F1 engine program is another matter (Renault Sport revealed, in one of James Allen's articles, that their engine manufacturing division has a budget of €120 million a year and they are effectively running the program at a loss of €60 million a year (though they consider that a relatively small cost to pay for their association with Red Bull's current success)).

[DemocalypseNow]

[Not Williams Related]

Does anyone know if Snoras Bank still sponsor Lotus-Renault? It sounds like the Lithuanian government are stepping up their investigation into a number of charges (fraud, money laundering, etc) against various current and former members of the bank. They went into administration last week, by the way.

[TomWazzleshaw]

[Not Williams Related]

Does anyone know if Snoras Bank still sponsor Lotus-Renault? It sounds like the Lithuanian government are stepping up their investigation into a number of charges (fraud, money laundering, etc) against various current and former members of the bank. They went into administration last week, by the way.

And the big player involved with it is now up shite creek without a paddle.

[Captain Hammer]

Does anyone know if Snoras Bank still sponsor Lotus-Renault? It sounds like the Lithuanian government are stepping up their investigation into a number of charges (fraud, money laundering, etc) against various current and former members of the bank. They went into administration last week, by the way.

No, they don't sponsor Renault. They never actually "sponsored" them in the traditional sense; Snoras put up the loan for Genii to buy Renault. As a part of that loan, Genii put the Snoras name on the side of the R30. However, the charges against Antonov and Baranauskas specifically relate to their acquisition of the commercial rights to the WRC. There has been no mention of the Renault-Genii-Snoras loans, and the arrest warrant for Antonov does not mean Renault was purchased fraudulently. In fact, according to the BBC, Antonov is specifically wanted for asset stripping - buying a business, and then selling off each of its assets individually to make a profit. Basically, what Michael Douglas was doing in Wall Street.

I know how much you want to see them go down, but Renault are just another customer of the bank, not unlike thousands of Lithuanian businesses who dealt with Snoras. They're lucky Antonov didn't strip them.

[Peter]

Someone in Germany will get the bug to try and beat Mercedes, it has happened in the past and will happen again!

I highly doubt we'll see VW/Audi on the grid for quite a while, if ever. They've been banded about for years and it's never come to anything - the 1.6 turbos were an excellent chance for them to show their interest and they were incredibly half-assed about it at best. If they do get the urge to beat Mercedes, it won't be until Mercedes is a serious contender again; right now, all they're doing is showcasing an excellent way to waste money.

I don't think so. Mercedes is doing a fine job right now, basically doing what Toyota did in 2005 minus being faster than Ferrari, and the incredible conservatism and waste of money. They are on he rise, methinks. All they need is a proper designer to pen them up a champion.

[Salamander]

Someone in Germany will get the bug to try and beat Mercedes, it has happened in the past and will happen again!

I highly doubt we'll see VW/Audi on the grid for quite a while, if ever. They've been banded about for years and it's never come to anything - the 1.6 turbos were an excellent chance for them to show their interest and they were incredibly half-assed about it at best. If they do get the urge to beat Mercedes, it won't be until Mercedes is a serious contender again; right now, all they're doing is showcasing an excellent way to waste money.

I don't think so. Mercedes is doing a fine job right now, basically doing what Toyota did in 2005 minus being faster than Ferrari, and the incredible conservatism and waste of money. They are on he rise, methinks. All they need is a proper designer to pen them up a champion.

Mercedes has been largely static in the past two years, and that was after buying up the then-current Constructors' Champions. I know we all expected Brawn to be behind the 8-ball with the lay-offs and focus on 2009, but they haven't been on the podium once in the last 16 months, and this year's car was initially a complete dud. That's not a great advertisement for a manufacturer to come into F1, and keep in mind that even if VW/Audi buy into a team as opposed to starting a new one, it'll be a midfield team at best.

[DemocalypseNow]

I know how much you want to see them go down

Eh? I got nothing against Renault. If anything I wish they'd go back to the way it was in 2005, but Genii are treading water right now.

[Captain Hammer]

They got him:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96447

[DanielPT]

Without wanting to raise Captain's wrath, I dare to say that this Antonov fellow looks increasingly like a white collar mobster... Sure, he is innocent until proven guilt but no one emits a European arrest warrant without sound evidence, I believe.