Lance Stroll, Williams, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, 2018

Williams not “writing off” 2018 after poor start

2018 Canadian Grand Prix

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Williams deputy team principal Claire Williams says her team will not “write off” its 2018 Formula 1 campaign despite its poor start to the season.

The team lies last in the constructors’ championship and has only recorded a single points-scoring finish in the six races so far.

Williams said the team is prepared to be patient while it works to address the problems with its FW41.

“We’ve never said we’re going to write this season off,” she said in today’s FIA press conference. “In no way would we ever say that at Williams.

“We’re only a third of the way through this year. There are a lot of races left to go. We haven’t done what we wanted to do in the first third – scoring four points is not where we want to be.

“But the guys are doing a good job. It does require a little bit of patience. It’s not easy turning things around that fast.”

The team is not expected to be able to correct the problem with its FW41 until the German Grand Prix at the earliest, but it has done some development of its car.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do, particularly on the aerodynamics side of things, and that takes time,” said Williams. “We’ll be bringing updates to forthcoming races, we’ll have to see how they pan out.

“It’s just a case of working hard and keeping everything crossed so that we deliver the performance that we need to do, so that by the end of the year we’re back up to the front of the field, but that’s going to be hard work for us.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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14 comments on “Williams not “writing off” 2018 after poor start”

  1. And their lead driver is slower, and much slower, than the other one.
    He is much better at the starts and somehow always jumps ahead, but that’s that.

  2. Vettel fan 17 (@)
    8th June 2018, 21:05

    They would be better off doing so. This season has been horrific for them so far, there is no point sugar coating it. They should get Lowe to get work done for next year and make a fresh start

    1. Sush meerkat
      8th June 2018, 21:10

      Who was the primary chassis designer for this years car?

      I know people hold Lowe in high regard but it seems to me he designs cars (in the past) that were difficult to set up.

      1. Vettel fan 17 (@)
        8th June 2018, 21:24

        I don’t know much about Lowe, but he’s there technical director so he would have a large say, so putting him in charge of the car next year seems like a good idea

  3. Help us Robert, you are our only hope!

    1. Vettel fan 17 (@)
      8th June 2018, 21:21

      They should get him in a practice session in equal cars (in Spain he had the upgraded car so we don’t know who was faster on pace)

    2. Absolutely… It’s ridiculous, a man coached by a former world champion gets sidelined for two rookies! But for Williams it seems that this year money decided the drivers?? Perhaps they prefer pound notes at the expense of points which somewhat ruins the sport in my opinion but hey ho. It might be in view of a super car next year let’s hope!

      1. @vettelfan17 @gavinbiggs The consensus after the Abu-Dhabi test was that Kubica was slower than Stroll & Sirotkin.

        That wasn’t just coming from Williams either as it was widely reported by those who were there evaluating the test that Robert didn’t look as fast or as committed when on track & that he was a few tenths slower in terms of pace.

        1. Renault also hand a chance to compare Sirotkin and Kubica in a couple of test, did’t choose either.

          1. His speed would come back, but his leadership, positive attitude and experience would be priceless.

  4. I’d be writing off 2019 if I were them…

  5. Is Claire Williams the right person for the job?

    1. @francorchamps17 When Frank actually stops unintentionally undermining her by being ever present then yes. No one is the right person for the job until this happens. The team still see him as the boss.

      1. Sush meerkat
        9th June 2018, 12:01

        I actually feel sorry for Claire Williams as of late, she looks no where near as confident in interviews as she once did

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