Kubica back in an F1 car
Discussion
Will he tell them where to go??
Robert Kubica is to be offered a reserve driver role by Williams for this season, including some outings in Friday practice. An announcement that Russian Sergey Sirotkin will get the final race seat alongside Lance Stroll is expected in the next few days.
Robert Kubica is to be offered a reserve driver role by Williams for this season, including some outings in Friday practice. An announcement that Russian Sergey Sirotkin will get the final race seat alongside Lance Stroll is expected in the next few days.
HustleRussell said:
Shows what you know
Not much first hand knowledge (would love to have lunch with FrankAnd Patrick) but have got 30+ years reading books and articles about the sport, watching documentaties and films and have been lucky enough to get to know a few people who work in F1.
Frank Williams was a racer turned wheeler dealer / team owner who's team achieved great success (after a fair few failed attempts) bit if you look
at the last 20/25 years it's all about the money - and a glaring lack of success which is likely to carry forward with their pay drivers.
rallycross said:
Williams F1 sink to a new low.
Rumour has it Frank Williams is/was a racer, looks more like he is just driven by his own greed.
What utter pish. As a team owner what would you do? Give the drive to a relatively old driver, with a serious question over fitness and strength, who has been out of racing for several years and has little funding, or give it to a young, fit driver with a decent level of talent, and a lot of backing, Rumour has it Frank Williams is/was a racer, looks more like he is just driven by his own greed.
I like Kubica but I think people’s rose tinted specs and nostalgia is getting in the way of their judgment
rallycross said:
HustleRussell said:
Shows what you know
Not much first hand knowledge (would love to have lunch with FrankAnd Patrick) but have got 30+ years reading books and articles about the sport, watching documentaties and films and have been lucky enough to get to know a few people who work in F1.
Frank Williams was a racer turned wheeler dealer / team owner who's team achieved great success (after a fair few failed attempts) bit if you look
at the last 20/25 years it's all about the money - and a glaring lack of success which is likely to carry forward with their pay drivers.
Look at Mclaren, it didn’t take long for sponsors to disappear as the team fell down the grid. Less high end sponsors less money, less points at the end of the season less prize money.
It is all about the money! RedBull, Mercedes and Renault have plenty of it. Ferrari have £100m headstart every season. Throw in prize money and whatever other funds the team provides and the top teams have serious budget to go racing with.
Frank and Patrick, both fiercely independent, made mistakes. Frank admitted he was wrong not letting Newey have a piece of the company when he asked. Frank said no, Newey left and the decline began. Better times appeared to be on the horizon in the BMW years but they wanted to buy the team. Frank wasn’t for selling.
Things seemed to be on the up again with Merc on board but Williams have fallen away again. They are running at something like half the budget of the front runners, a lot less staff and have been off the pace with aero, cutting edge developments and innovation.
Moving back up the grid won’t be easy. Hopefully Paddy Lowe with be a catalyst for change and start moving the team forward over the next 2-3 years. Money and where it’s spent is an
Important part of that.
HustleRussell said:
Chicken and egg situation. They need money. Sponsors want to see an upturn in form which hasn’t been forthcoming. They can glean hundreds of millions from pay drivers over a few years. It’s short-termism.
Short term pain for long term gain is the way Paddy and Claire are looking at it IMO. As said above they've been consistently behind other teams in developments for several seasons because they don't have the money to make fifteen different parts and choose the best, then refine that part in fifteen more ways like the top teams. Money and investment is their issue at the moment and I'm sure they're planning on fixing that.ELUSIVEJIM said:
I would worry about Williams future without Frank Williams.
Himself and Patrick Head are Legends.
I doubt Frank is little more than a figurehead these days and has little to do with the day to day running any more. I'm surprised Claire is still deputy team principal actually and she'll likely be announced as team principal this year. Himself and Patrick Head are Legends.
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