Claire Williams/ Williams in general

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 17 Mar 2014, 13:15

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 94871.html

I quite enjoyed reading this article over lunch, carefully choosing to ignore the irrelevant tedious angle over her happening to be female.

Obviously it's one thing saying something and actually doing it, but just reading her conviction to avoid Williams sliding down the path of Tyrell was very reassurring. It's great to read her showing the same conviction and steel as Frank.

It's been a long and fruitless period for Williams after being so utterly dominant, yet other than the 1998 engine change it's difficult to pin-down what happened. Ferrari and McLaren upped their game of course, but they were being bested by Jordan and some of the midfield at the same time, and 2 of the last 4 years have been embarrassing for them, pooting around nearly at the back, barely even keeping pace with the midfield.

2012 was a decent enough year for Williams but unfortunately they had a lunatic of a driver who must've thrown away about 40 points at least that year. This time they have Bottas who really looks to have the goods, and Massa who despite getting into way too many incidents, knows how to get a car home in the points. Mercedes power has given them a natural advantage for now.

What can they do to stay near the front this year, and reclaim their position as a top 4 constructor?

LellaLombardi · Post by **LellaLombardi** » 17 Mar 2014, 14:09

This is the best driver line-up they have had for some years, and that's a good start. For me the beginning of the end for Williams was when they had to rely so heavily on pay drivers who did the team no favours (I'm looking at you Maldonado).

I like Claire Williams a lot and I think she's the person to get them going in the right direction.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 17 Mar 2014, 16:54

Is it just me or when the cameras cut to the Williams team mid race they appear much more of a unit than some other teams? It really seems to show how important it is to them as a group, how much it all means to them. Go Team Willy! Zeroes to heroes to zeroes and almost heroes again. Ron Howard, theres your next movie.

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 17 Mar 2014, 18:02

Just a stat to throw in here, since Williams first Grand Prix start, they have a win % of 18.27.
Considering they have only won 1 race in the last decade (heavily dragging the number down), it's not too shabby.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 17 Mar 2014, 19:58

CoopsII wrote:Is it just me or when the cameras cut to the Williams team mid race they appear much more of a unit than some other teams? It really seems to show how important it is to them as a group, how much it all means to them. Go Team Willy! Zeroes to heroes to zeroes and almost heroes again. Ron Howard, theres your next movie.

That's a good point, and I think its a good example of the difference between the old-school traditional team set-up - an organisation that exists purely to go racing, in comparison to the modern corporate machines, driven by a specific product or road car manufacturer which are bland, faceless and to a fair extent, emotionless.

noiceinmydrink · Post by **noiceinmydrink** » 17 Mar 2014, 20:28

AndreaModa wrote:an organisation that exists purely to go racing, in comparison to Red Bull

Paul Hayes · Post by **Paul Hayes** » 17 Mar 2014, 21:32

It is nice to see them seemingly bouncing back. Two or three years ago, I was convinced they were Lotus in the early 1990s, and that nothing was going to save them.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 17 Mar 2014, 21:33

Mexicola wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:an organisation that exists purely to go racing, in comparison to Red Bull

Well yes, but there's other examples too. I've always found all of the car manufacturers as dull as dishwater (with the exception of Ferrari) and thinking about it now, that could be one of the primary reasons why the mid 00's were seen as so tedious, aside from Schumacher's domination.

Going back to the article though, I thought it was a great read, some nice personal anecdotes in there from Claire. I think she'll do well in years to come, they have a good structure in place at Williams now.

Barbazza · Post by **Barbazza** » 17 Mar 2014, 22:12

Paul Hayes wrote:It is nice to see them seemingly bouncing back. Two or three years ago, I was convinced they were Lotus in the early 1990s, and that nothing was going to save them.

I'm pleased that they seem to be on the up as well. And it appears that it's actually Lotus who are Lotus in the early 90s. Who knew?

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 17 Mar 2014, 23:11

LellaLombardi wrote:I like Claire Williams a lot.

Erm... So do I?

But seriously, this is a much better-written article than the one I posted that was written by Beverley Turner from the Telegraph a few weeks ago.

pasta_maldonado · Post by **pasta_maldonado** » 18 Mar 2014, 11:34

dr-baker wrote:
LellaLombardi wrote:I like Claire Williams a lot.

Erm... So do I?

But seriously, this is a much better-written article than the one I posted that was written by Beverley Turner from the Telegraph a few weeks ago.

No one was questioning your appreciation of Claire, baker.....

Everyone knows you have a soft spot for every woman in motorsport, there's no need to keep banging on about it.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 18 Mar 2014, 17:11

pasta_maldonado wrote: there's no need to keep banging on about it.

Banging. Hmmm. Punny, perhaps?

Turbogirl · Post by **Turbogirl** » 18 Mar 2014, 18:50

dr-baker wrote:
LellaLombardi wrote:I like Claire Williams a lot.

Erm... So do I?

But seriously, this is a much better-written article than the one I posted that was written by Beverley Turner from the Telegraph a few weeks ago.

Indeed it is!

I hope, Williams can make it back to the top, too. Massa might have lost a bit of his edge, but like Barrichello, he has learned a lot at Ferrari and is able to develop a car. Bottas on the other hand is another flying fin just like Hakkinen and Raikkonen and I believe he has the talent to score a lot of great results this year, especially with the Mercedes engine in his car. Hamilton's and Massa's DNFs aside, every Mercedes-powered car was in the top ten at Melbourne. That's a very good sign, if I've ever seen one.

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 18 Mar 2014, 21:24

I hope that Williams not only score at least a few podiums and keep up in the development race, I also want them to be competitive in 2015 and beyond. I know they have better stability now but I still fear they'll be plumbing the depths again next year.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 19 Mar 2014, 15:29

Most years, at some point, I look for the Senna Foundation logos around the front wing supports on the Williams cars, but this year, I am struggling to see them. Can anyone else see them this year?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 19 Mar 2014, 15:50

dr-baker wrote:Most years, at some point, I look for the Senna Foundation logos around the front wing supports on the Williams cars, but this year, I am struggling to see them. Can anyone else see them this year?

You cant see it at that angle but there is a Senna decal on it somewhere because ive seen it.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 19 Mar 2014, 15:59

CoopsII wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Most years, at some point, I look for the Senna Foundation logos around the front wing supports on the Williams cars, but this year, I am struggling to see them. Can anyone else see them this year?

You cant see it at that angle but there is a Senna decal on it somewhere because ive seen it.

Well, if you find a photo of it... Would be nice to know it's still there.

Not that I don't trust you!

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 19 Mar 2014, 16:21

dr-baker wrote:
CoopsII wrote:
dr-baker wrote:Most years, at some point, I look for the Senna Foundation logos around the front wing supports on the Williams cars, but this year, I am struggling to see them. Can anyone else see them this year?

You cant see it at that angle but there is a Senna decal on it somewhere because ive seen it.

Well, if you find a photo of it... Would be nice to know it's still there.

Not that I don't trust you!

Appaza, the Senna logo went when they ran Bruno but now they've got the one featured in this article....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/m ... e17367204/

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 19 Mar 2014, 16:47

CoopsII wrote:Appaza, the Senna logo went when they ran Bruno but now they've got the one featured in this article....
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/m ... e17367204/

Ahh, they're only running it on the left of the nose rather than both sides. Plus I had kinda seen it before , but every picture was too small for me to see the print alongside the image, therefore I couldn't be sure that it was indeed the Senna Foundation advert...

Turbogirl · Post by **Turbogirl** » 19 Mar 2014, 18:18

Just great. If this photo proves one thing, then that the whole "driver can pick his personal number, so people can recognize him better" was total BS. You need a magnifying glass to see this tiny number during the race! Not that other teams would have solved this issue that much better, but I digress...

Here is a nice video with Claire Williams. It's about women in motorsports in general and features Susie Wolff too, but for those of you who haven't seen it yet, Claire answers a lot of questions about the team, her way of running it, her personal connection to it, and she even admits she can't park (or reverse, as she puts it). :lol:

You just got to love her sense of humor, especially when she talks about her father literally stalking the Saudia guys for sponsorship, etc. It's definitely worth a glimpse, trust me. Susie is also pretty funny, when she talks about the fitness test for F1 and other things about being a female racing driver in general.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJODEUuJUs

The interview with Claire and Susie begins around the 7 minute mark. You can skip everything before that. Oh, and if you're not a fan of the whole "more power to women" debate, you better skip the last ten minutes, too. Don't worry, I won't judge you for that decision.

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 20 Mar 2014, 06:39

Here you go, everyone:

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 20 Mar 2014, 13:05

Shizuka wrote:Here you go, everyone:

Thanks, that's a lot clearer. Still, it's a shame it's only on one side of the nose, but it's infinitely better than nothing.

Turbogirl wrote:Here is a nice video with Claire Williams. It's about women in motorsports in general and features Susie Wolff too, but for those of you who haven't seen it yet, Claire answers a lot of questions about the team, her way of running it, her personal connection to it, and she even admits she can't park (or reverse, as she puts it). You just got to love her sense of humor, especially when she talks about her father literally stalking the Saudia guys for sponsorship, etc. It's definitely worth a glimpse, trust me. Susie is also pretty funny, when she talks about the fitness test for F1 and other things about being a female racing driver in general.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJODEUuJUs

The interview with Claire and Susie begins around the 7 minute mark. You can skip everything before that. Oh, and if you're not a fan of the whole "more power to women" debate, you better skip the last ten minutes, too. Don't worry, I won't judge you for that decision.

Thanks for posting that. The 40 minutes or so of that interview went much quicker than I was anticipating, which means that I must have found it interesting! Interesting talking about the ratios of males to females in engineering etc. - I am soon hopefully about to qualify as an occupational therapist, where there are at most about 10% male to 90% female. On my course at Brunel Uni, there are around 5 guys to around 70-80 females! (A similar, or worse, proportion when I was in community care work.) And when I was at boarding school, it was the other way round - 12 girls to around 100 guys (it was the first year group to pass through the school to be mixed). So to me, it seems normal that there is sexual inequality one way or the other. Not saying it's right or wrong, just that it's still a 21st century issue. (I suppose the church is where it is most equal in my experience, but is still unequal when it comes to leading Sunday Schools for instance.)

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 21 Mar 2014, 07:14

"Women in Motorsport" and the first thing I see is a man talking... sorry, I don't mean to be annoying, but I just found that interesting :lol:

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 21 Mar 2014, 08:55

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/92 ... m-Williams

Bottas getting ahead of himself a little. They are certainly quick but don't count your chickens and all that. If Red Bull solve reliability issues they'll be quicker, McLaren have an upgrade for Sepang that is rumoured to buy them an extra 0.2s a lap, and both Mercedes might finish. And all they have so far is one 5th place.

I'd say there's enormous pressure on Williams to capitalise right now while they still hold an advantage and the first race was a missed opportunity. They shouldn't be happy, they should be distraught one 5th place is all they have to show for it.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 21 Mar 2014, 10:14

jackanderton wrote:They shouldn't be happy, they should be distraught one 5th place is all they have to show for it.

I think they were quite dissappointed with the result last week, none more so than Bottas who manfully owned it. As for Massa, theres no point being distraught, if someone rams you then someone rams you.

Lets see how things develop but at the moment they have every reason to be reasonably positve for Malaysia.

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 21 Mar 2014, 11:01

CoopsII wrote:
jackanderton wrote:They shouldn't be happy, they should be distraught one 5th place is all they have to show for it.

I think they were quite dissappointed with the result last week, none more so than Bottas who manfully owned it. As for Massa, theres no point being distraught, if someone rams you then someone rams you.

At the risk of drifting OT, i was absolutely stunned with how calm, resigned and realistic Lewis' reaction was. Back to Williams, they appear to have a good car relative to the turmoil of the current state teams are in, but one of their weakneses got exposed in Melbourne. Pat Symonds admitted their car seems to struggle with 'yaw sensitivity' as he put it, which means strong and changable wind can have a negative effect on their downforce. Wind played a part in their qualy performance which was their first dissapointment of the weekend. This area of development is quite a ways away from fundamental balance and reliability issues that were flavor of the day during Bahrain testing and for many teams even Melbourne practise sessions. Lotus would kill if something like that was their highest priority.

So overall i think Williams can be happy if they are getting busy tackling advanced stuff while 2/3 of the field are struggling with the basics. Bottas' race pace and lack of any reliability issues should give them every reason to be optimistic. Bottas may be kicking himself over his brush with the wall, but in truth he wasn't the only one who came close to such contact and Vettel even hit the wall harder but seemingly got away with it. His pace was comparable or perhaps better than Magnussen's so it's not a stretch to say that Williams had a shot at 2nd behind only Mercedes. One 5th place is the harsh reality but you cant blame the team for salivating at the theoretical result they could have achieved. A straight 2nd? On merit? Williams?!?

Massa's inital reaction can be excused if you take into account how pumped up he must have been at the very start of the race, esp. it being the season opener and him in a competitive car. Drivers are mentally in a different 'zone' and usually when they get knocked out early in a race there's more adrenaline and emotion in their behavior. Plus in his case it diverts attention away from terrible start.

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 21 Mar 2014, 11:19

Yeah no big bitterness here, I am just acutely aware of the window of opportunity they have here- a good result at Melbourne could've set them up to remain as one of the top 4 teams this year, and instead thanks to KK and a rather rookie error by Bottas it's just one 5th to show for it.

Fingers crossed for a podium and two top 5 finishes in Sepang.

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 02 Apr 2014, 07:50

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/18227/92 ... -objective

Williams continuing to talk big, despite the current results being 5th, DNF, 7th and 8th.

On current form, and given Red Bull and Ferrari are on the march, I'd say they were on for a 2009/2012 standard season of Okay-ness.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_F ... ix_results

Rather fighting talk when you've achieved 2 podiums in 105 races.

Still, if they can get solid top 8 finishes all season I'll leave them alone, maybe even feel happy?!

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 02 Apr 2014, 12:13

jackanderton wrote:Still, if they can get solid top 8 finishes all season I'll leave them alone, maybe even feel happy?!

Well, they've already had a better season than they had last year...

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 03 Apr 2014, 14:12

Uh-oh.

Nasr to drive for Williams in FP1 in Bahrain
Felipe Nasr will make his first Formula One Grand Prix weekend appearance when he drives for Williams in first practice in Bahrain.

The 21-year-old Brazilian, who joined the Grove-based team as test and reserve driver for the 2014 season, got his first taste of F1 machinery when he drove for Williams on day four of the second pre-season test at the Sakhir circuit.

His best effort on that day, a 1m 37.569s, was just a few tenths shy of Felipe Massa's and Valtteri Bottas’s quickest times over the previous three days.
As well as acting as Williams’ reserve driver this year, Nasr will compete in the F1-supporting GP2 Series with Carlin, for whom he scored six podiums and finished fourth overall in last year’s championship. The first round of the series takes place in Bahrain this weekend.

Was this always planned for this weekend? Or has it been a decision made post-Sepang?
It doesn't say if Nasr will use Bottas' or Massa's car, but I'm willing to bet it is going to be Massa's.

Sublime_FA11C · Post by **Sublime_FA11C** » 03 Apr 2014, 16:46

It was planned i belive. GvDG was planned ahead of time and he mentioned on the Sky broadcast (Menbourne FP2 he cohosted with Crofty) that most teams will give their main drivers all the free practise time for the first two GPs and only use reserve drivers or FP1 drivers in Bahrain at the earliest.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 03 Apr 2014, 17:11

And he's in Bottas' car. No conspiracy there. If anything it's most likely satisfying their Brazilian sponsors.

Post by **Ataxia** » 03 Apr 2014, 22:59

AndreaModa wrote:And he's in Bottas' car. No conspiracy there. If anything it's most likely satisfying their Brazilian sponsors.

So we'll have Massa and Nasr in FP1 tomorrow...I bet Eurobrun will be delighted. :lol:

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 04 Apr 2014, 05:33

Ataxia wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:And he's in Bottas' car. No conspiracy there. If anything it's most likely satisfying their Brazilian sponsors.

So we'll have Massa and Nasr in FP1 tomorrow...I bet Eurobrun will be delighted.

I feel sorry for whoever will commentate on that practice session

Jocke1 · Post by **Jocke1** » 04 Apr 2014, 07:30

RonDenisDeletraz wrote:
Ataxia wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:And he's in Bottas' car. No conspiracy there. If anything it's most likely satisfying their Brazilian sponsors.

So we'll have Massa and Nasr in FP1 tomorrow...I bet Eurobrun will be delighted.

I feel sorry for whoever will commentate on that practice session

I feel sorry for Felipe if Nasr is faster than him.

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 09 Apr 2014, 07:52

Yet another anticlimax in Bahrain. Some bad luck, yes, but I felt Force India and Ricciardo were faster during the race.

7th and 8th. Better than 2 of the recent seasons by some way, but only as good as the mid-2000s which were largely seen at the time as an embarrassing fall from grace.

Only a few podiums this year will justify the hype!

LeytonHouse · Post by **LeytonHouse** » 09 Apr 2014, 09:28

Yeah, as a Williams fan myself, Bahrain was a bit of an anti-climax (although I also like Force India and Ricciardo 8-)

).

I predict China might be a little better though as I hear Williams were struggling quite specifically with rear tyre deg in Bahrain. Historically Shanghai is a front-limited track so possibly Williams will have a better car in race-trim? (ala Mercedes last year)

Maybe Mario or some other technical person can shed some light on this?

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 09 Apr 2014, 11:55

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williams_F ... ix_results

Ok well the good news is, Bottas has achieved three consecutive top 8 finishes for Williams, which is the first time that has happened since the summer of 2009.

It's reassurring that so far if they go a full race distance they are most likely going to finish around 5-10. However this puts them around 2010 standard, which was at the time the worst season since 2006, when they had a fast but chronically unreliable car.

Is it just 2011 and 2013 lowered expectations so badly that there current performance is seen as good rather than where they bloody well ought to be at a bare minimum?

Post by **Londoner** » 09 Apr 2014, 12:01

To be honest, I'm just glad Williams are regular point scorers again. I was worried like hell they would record the fated "nil pois" last season, which other famous big teams in the past (Lotus, Brabham, Tyrrell etc) did in their dying days.

The big performances will come no doubt, the same thing happened in 2012. Except this time I reckon Bottas and that other guy that Valtteri is faster than

will not waste the opportunities when they come, unlike Pasta and Bruno Lalli...

jackanderton · Post by **jackanderton** » 09 Apr 2014, 14:13

They are both solid racers, I doubt either have Maldonado's level of mongrel, for want of a better word. Maldonado is explosive, all or nothing, and a proven winner but with Massa and Bottas I anticipate plenty of finishes between 5th and 10th, and probably a few more points. I think Massa can be a bit of a dunce when it comes to wheel to wheel racing so perhaps he'll have his skirmishes as well.

What would be a good constructor's placing at this point. 4th?