The Official 2018 F1 Silly Season *Contains Speculation*

[Vaud]

thegreenhell said:

It's a sad state for Williams if the pay driver can dictate the main driver.

They are more like an investor, surely - they must be carrying quite a lot of the Williams OPEX budget?

Will need to wait for their FY17 accounts to guess how much. Williams are just trying to survive to the next (hopefully lower cost) tech cycle.

[Vaud]

HustleRussell said:

or that gent who parks in the disabled bay every day...

Who?

[Vaud]

cuprabob said:

I assume he's referring to Kubica

Ah, unnecessarily harsh on Mr K...

[Vaud]

cuprabob said:

Paddy Love is a shareholder at Williams. It's the reason he is there.

Paddy Lowe is indeed - a shareholder and board member. Actual % unclear but I'd give an armchair guess at 5%.

[Vaud]

Wehrlein out apparently at Sauber in favour of Leclerc. Nothing official yet.

https://www.f1today.net/en/news/f1/233001/sauber-d...

[Vaud]

kambites said:

Interesting isn't it; from being in serious contention for a drive at the best team in the sport last year, to being kicked out of the worst this year.

Unless he is picking up a Mercedes backed Williams drive?

[Vaud]

Grouped by existing team (with end contract date where known)

44. Lewis Hamilton (2018)
77. Valtteri Bottas (2018)

3. Daniel Ricciardo (2018)
33. Max Verstappen (2020)

5. Sebastian Vettel (2020)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (2018)

11. Sergio Perez (2018)
31. Esteban Ocon (2018)

-- TBC
18. Lance Stroll (2018)

14. Fernando Alonso (2018+)
2. Stoffel Vandoorne (2018)

10. Pierre Gasly (TBC)
28. Brendon Hartley (TBC)

8. Romain Grosjean (2017?)
20. Kevin Magnussen (2018?)

27. Nico Hulkenberg (2018)
55. Carlos Sainz Jnr (2019) - loan for 2018 from TR

9 Marcus Ericsson (TBC)
TBC Charles Leclerc (TBC)

[Vaud]

jamiebae said:

Remember there is (allegedly...) a decent element of favouritism towards Ericsson in the team - he gets the upgrades first, the better engineers and so on, so it may not be a straight fight all of the time.

True. Only the team principal will know the full picture of performance.

[Vaud]

Sauber still not decided:

http://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-1/_sto6394545/s...

[Vaud]

MissChief said:

This season maybe, but with the Honda money drying up, reckoned to be worth £100m a season (although 'worth' and 'money paid into McLaren's bank account' are different of course) along with Alonso's wages now being paid by McLaren rather than direct from Honda and the charge they now have to pay for Renault engines, they could as much as £50m directly in the hole, along with any costs absorbed by Honda over the past three years.

The owners have plenty of money.

[Vaud]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Cold said:

Are you suggesting it's beyond the wit of F1 engineers to redesign or reposition a few switches?

If it were simple to make it easier, less prone to mistakes and all controllable with one hand, why haven’t they done it for everyone?

UI design is always a set of compromises. Drivers often have custom wheels. They just take time to develop with the driver.

[Vaud]

carl_w said:

Since Button's third driver role has been given to Lando Norris next year, could he be in the frame for the brand ambassador role given his history with Williams?

Not exactly the most harmonious break though?

[Vaud]

MissChief said:

Publicity is a big one, and who's to say that Renault let Williams have all their data and thoughts on Robert's performance?

Cynical, aren’t you? ;-)

[Vaud]

I agree.

Plenty of retired drivers available for brand roles. Some even have a Williams connection.

Williams need the fastest, most complete (development and race) driver that they can afford.

[Vaud]

rdjohn said:

would make it look like F1 is too easy if you can effectively drive 1-handed.

I think that is a little unfair. The physicality of F1 is much more than that and they have had power steering for years... I'd far rather see it as a positive - like Zanardi - and F1 making adaptions to champion diversity.

[Vaud]

The larger engineering challenge is UI/UX design for the variables controlled through the wheel but that will be surmountable. In fact, an interesting challenge for a UI person.

[Vaud]

red_slr said:

I think the health of SFW is not helping matters. CW is obviously F1 through and through but she has had a baby and things are probably slipping. SFW was known for being pretty brutal which helped with the development and risk taking.

They need someone who has everything to lose and is willing to take some major risks. I don't think the drivers are the problem. Just look at what Ross Brawn did with Honda...

But... Ross had nothing to lose. And no money. And exploited a loophole. The others caught up.

He did well, but it was circumstance and a loophole, not a brilliant development cycle.

[Vaud]

rubystone said:

The biggest issue is the differences of opinion between the 3 siblings. Which is why the best thing that could happen is if Porsche pushed through the acquisition sooner rather than later.

Is that an issue?

It’s a publically listed company, the executive team and board of directors act towards the shareholders? Are the other siblings involved in Williams or are they just set to inherit?

[Vaud]

sandman77 said:

You should watch the Williams film. Claire and her older brother no longer talk. He seems very bitter that Claire was asked to take over the business when in his eyes it should have went to the oldest child. He has been given what seems like a really boring job in the heritage department. Its all quite sad really.

I should watch it, you are right.

So he is an employee and may inherit depending on the will, etc.

[Vaud]

thegreenhell said:

Porsche are going to buy Williams? I thought all the rumours during silly season were that Red Bull were talking to Porsche. I don't remember a single story about Williams and Porsche.

I had it on good authority for RB/Porsche as well.

I suspect no-one will make a move until the regs are certain. Apparently they were sure Porsche were serious because several teams had key staff approached with generous offers.

Hence some paddock staff had contracts reviewed over the summer with much extended non-compete clauses (apparently).