Williams will not run on first day of testing

51 comments on “Williams will not run on first day of testing”

1. 

   bosyber (@bosyber)
   17th February 2019, 8:36

   Looking on the positive side, at least they won’t be finding out in the first morning of the 1st test that they are effectively done for the season like they were last year then!

   Reliability wasn’t a big problem for them in the last years, I don’t think, so from that view too, and as long as they really managed to fix the design issues that plagued the FW41, and that will be the biggest thing they need to have worked on, it isn’t a disaster either.
2. 

   formevic (@formevic)
   17th February 2019, 8:39

   Poor Williams.. slow fading to Manor-Marussia end. Only a hand falling from the sky could help, Sauber-AR like wise..
3. 

   Imre (@f1mre)
   17th February 2019, 8:45

   The beginning of the end?
   1. 

      Darryn Smith (@darryn)
      17th February 2019, 9:21

      That was about 1998.
      1. 

         kpcart
         17th February 2019, 10:22

         They nearly won the world drivers championship in 2003.
      2. 

         lfnorthy
         17th February 2019, 10:23

         2003. If the michelin tyres didnt suddenly become illegal, Williams BMW could have beaten ferrari, but that season was the last time Williams was truely in with a title shot, & lack of championship success with BMW has hurt them ever since
   2. 

      SuperSenna
      18th February 2019, 16:21

      Since when Claire Williams is the person in charge?
      1. 

         Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
         19th February 2019, 14:19

         She technically still isn’t, but she has been the primary public face of the team for several years. Hence why Claire is the one explaining these problems.
4. 

   DB-C90 (@dbradock)
   17th February 2019, 9:32

   Given that they of all teams have had one of the longer development periods for their 2019 car, this suggests that they might have taken far too long to work out what was wrong with last year’s car.

   Either that or they’ve had some serious project management issues.

   It could be argued that winter testing is THE most important part of a season for midfield teams and to lose 1 day of “real” track time is not a good sign for a team wanting to recover.
   1. 

      Cronies
      17th February 2019, 10:51

      Or you could argue that the have maximized design, production envelope etc. allowing them to get those extra gains…. but missed it by 24hrs…
   2. 

      Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
      17th February 2019, 23:57

      Or, @dbradock, they’re pulling a Brawn and trying to stuff that awkward 2019 Merc power unit into a chassis that already had trouble packaging that awkward 2018 Merc power unit.

      Would dearly love for Williams to reveal some doubly diffused advantage.

      Prefer that to the brutal example that Claire has set so far, that nepotism doesn’t make a better F1 team.
      1. 

         DB-C90 (@dbradock)
         18th February 2019, 0:02

         One can only hope – I’d love to see them back up near the front. Not really certain that Claire is the major issue – I suspect that she may be having trouble moving on a heap of dead wood that get support from above.
   3. 

      Shimks (@shimks)
      18th February 2019, 11:51

      I agree, @dbradock; not good at all.
5. 

   coefficient
   17th February 2019, 9:40

   Prophets of doom, don’t be so keen to witness the demise of one the sports true great teams. They have had success recently, in the hybrid era and I’m sure they have performed a root and branch analysis to improve. It’s akin to a rock band having a fallow patch. After the Black album it took Metallica 25 years to write another decent album and only after a lot of soul searching and getting their houses in order.

   Claire is learning on the job but she does give me confidence, good luck to them I say!
   1. 

      kpcart
      17th February 2019, 10:27

      But Metallica always sucked. Crap guitar playing, bad lyrics and singing etc etc. Metallica is like a 2nd tier nascar team… Same crowd too.
      1. 

         William Jones
         17th February 2019, 14:56

         Let’s try not to forget that taste is personal
         1. 

            Dave F. (@dave-f)
            17th February 2019, 16:57

            …Ah, but performance on the track (& not getting to the track) is objective.
   2. 

      LosD (@losd)
      17th February 2019, 14:49

      After the Black Album, Metallica never wrote another decent album… Or even half-decent album
6. 

   Tristan (@skipgamer)
   17th February 2019, 9:48

   Was really looking forward to seeing Kubica first up. I think they’d be crazy to give Latifi equal running, it’s not as if they don’t need as much valuable feedback as possible from their drivers (at least Kubica.)

   On the bright side at least this way if the cars not quite ready (which I guess it seems like it wont be) Kubica won’t be waiting around losing testing time…
   1. 

      kpcart
      17th February 2019, 10:25

      1 day out of only 8 is a lot of time to lose for the team. Latifi paid his way into the team, and will have as much testing as the regular drivers on the 3 days, I think they should move latiffi for the Tuesday all day, to go through all the boring systems checks and then let the race drivers work on setup and development.
      1. 

         ColdFly (@)
         17th February 2019, 11:29

         I would give Larifi the Monday, and he can keep his race seat as a memorabilia.
7. 

   Stu
   17th February 2019, 10:33

   Very poor from Williams. Doesn’t inspire much confidence for their season, surely this is the most important time above any other to get your house in order. I suspect Latifi is in the car due to money/sponsorship etc reasons, personally If I was in Williams’ situation I’d rather my race drivers be doing all the mileage.
8. 

   Witan
   17th February 2019, 10:49

   And so it begins, the spin falls away and reality peeps out from behind the spinner.

   Who will breakdown during testing? Miss the second or third days.

   Who says testing is boring.
9. 

   kpcart
   17th February 2019, 11:08

   But Metallica always sucked. Crap guitar playing, bad lyrics and singing etc etc. Metallica is like a 2nd tier nascar team… Same crowd too.
10. 

    ColdFly (@)
    17th February 2019, 11:30

    That’s disappointing. I was expecting them to rock it this year.
    1. 

       Imre (@f1mre)
       17th February 2019, 11:58

       I’m still expecting them to be rock bottom.
11. 

    Bones Gambino
    17th February 2019, 11:33

    This won’t be the first thing they are last to this season.
    1. 

       Bones Gambino
       17th February 2019, 11:36

       Of course, I meant only thing…
       1. 

          Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
          19th February 2019, 14:33

          Alas, both statements are probably true…
12. 

    Jere (@jerejj)
    17th February 2019, 12:13

    How Surprising.
13. 

    falken (@falken)
    17th February 2019, 12:31

    like their sponsor’s phones, Williams are now missing too
14. 

    P
    17th February 2019, 13:18

    Should have become a Mercedes “B” team like stroll wanted them to do.
15. 

    Adam (@rocketpanda)
    17th February 2019, 14:39

    I really hope Williams does well this year – probably more than any other team.

    You can’t help but worry for them. They seem to be the only team left that doesn’t have significant buisness outside F1 or a tie-up with a larger team – one of the only ones left that are a racing team first and primarily and still build the entirety of their car alone. That’s without bringing in their heritage as a race and championship winner and one of the most recognisable names in the sport.

    They’ve seemed to be on a downturn for a few years, but hitting dead last – despite having a strong and reliable engine is shocking. I see people have already started speculating whether we’re looking at the end of Williams and I hope we aren’t. Williams are the kind of team F1 should be bending over backwards to protect. They were here before, and they’ll be here long after the manufacturers have gotten their glories and left – providing they aren’t priced out now.
    1. 

       anon
       17th February 2019, 18:13

       @rocketpanda, they do have a division called Williams Advanced Engineering, which is an engineering consultancy and manufacturing division that operates outside of F1. The turnover of that division generates about a quarter of the entire turnover of the holding company, so it is not an insignificant contribution to the overall funding of the team.
16. 

    Khürt Louis Williams
    17th February 2019, 14:50

    Are Williams in trouble alreadt?
17. 

    MaliceCooper
    17th February 2019, 14:53

    Day late, dollar short?
    Either that or they’ve built a winner and don’t want to show off the real car too soon :-)
    Hoping it’s the latter.
18. 

    Mark Thomson (@melthom)
    17th February 2019, 15:05

    They need Frank back, frankly. In the same form he was in the beginning of the 90s
    1. 

       anon
       17th February 2019, 18:35

       @melthom, some would say that the problems that Williams face now is because, for so long, Frank continued to run the team in a way that might have worked back in the 1980s or early 1990s, but the way that he was trying to run the team was increasingly out of odds with the way that teams were working by the late 1990s or the early 2000s, let alone now.

       Even back in the early 2000s, people were commenting that Frank Williams’s style of management was archaic and sometimes that same hard-headed desire to prove himself could also prove to be to the detriment of the team as he sometimes became blinkered and would refuse to acknowledge problems.

       The way that Williams, for instance, has insisted on a culture of making everything in house might, on the one hand, give them greater control over the way that parts are produced and perhaps gives them a sense of self control and reliance that other teams might not have. On the other hand, there have been times when that culture, which Frank started and continues in the team to today, is an inefficient use of money and labour, especially when applied to parts that aren’t effective performance differentiators and could be produced more cheaply and quickly out of house.

       The criticism is that, for too long, Williams have looked to the past for solutions to their problems and rested on laurels that have faded away long ago. Looking to apply the solutions of the past, as some have been suggesting McLaren should do by reapponting Ron Dennis, is in many ways the reason why those teams have entered decline in the first place – not because they deviated from how they were run in the past, but because they stuck too strongly to how they were run in the past in a changing environment that increasingly left them out of touch.
19. 

    Mark Thomson (@melthom)
    17th February 2019, 15:08

    Now they can’t blame Kubica, thought
20. 

    Mark Thomson (@melthom)
    17th February 2019, 15:09

    Has teams run by women ever been great?
    1. 

       Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
       19th February 2019, 14:37

       The sample size in F1 so far has numbered one (Claire is Williams deputy team principal, not the principal itself).
21. 

    Qeki
    17th February 2019, 15:34

    When you thought you can’t sink any lower. Of course Ferrari hasn’t won anything since ’09 and for the reds it’s almost an eternity. As for Williams they did the impossible at Barcelona a few years back but it seems like they are falling into same hole that Lotus dig between 1979-1994 without winning a single title.

    ”cos no one saves the day
    it’s no one else’s fault
    if you’re a day late or a dollar short”
22. 

    Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
    17th February 2019, 16:20

    I find it can be tricky working to a timeline, especially when you’re trying to do something where there’s a desire to improve. Still, this isn’t a deadline that just turned up, it’s been known for a long time.
    I’m disappointed that Robert isn’t driving on their first day of testing, but maybe the plan was he’d be testing on Monday, which has been cancelled.
    As I’ve said before, big system failures are accompanied by small system failures, and not turning up on the first day of testing is a small system failure.
    1. 

       svianna (@svianna)
       17th February 2019, 16:43

       No, buddy. This is just ONE MORE example of a team going stead fast towards it’s sunset. The corporate culture at Williams, being as cheap as you can be is finally taking it’s toll. I will be really surprised if Williams is not taken over by the end of the season.

       You can’t be so incompetent for so long and not pay a heavy price. You can’t pinch pennies in a context that demands massive expenditure and expect to be successful.
23. 

    LB (@burden93)
    17th February 2019, 17:02

    Oh dear, not looking great for Williams. Hopefully they can turn it around
24. 

    Dave F. (@dave-f)
    17th February 2019, 17:03

    Doesn’t bode well…

    But as long as they’ve electrical & gearbox reliability they should be able to recoup the mileage.
25. 

    Peter
    17th February 2019, 17:30

    Should have become a Mercedes “B” team like stroll wanted to do.
26. 

    David
    17th February 2019, 18:50

    Will they even make it to the end of season?

    No car for day one of testing – so they are badly prepared

    Novelty sponsor – every chance the money will disappear

    Pay drivers – one of whom is a great story but very unlikely to be a great F1 driver any more

    Best engine on the grid – yet back of the field.

    Succession of major technical appointments – which seem to have failed.

    Hard to believe that this is the team that was a genuine contender at the start of the Hybrid era.

    And yes, all of this has happened under Claire Williams’ watch…
27. 

    Kristin (@motorsportartist)
    17th February 2019, 19:28

    I was wondering whether this might have something to do with them perhaps only recently closing the deal with Rokit? They might have needed the additional funding to finish the car. I do hope that George and Robert will have a competitive car.
28. 

    Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
    17th February 2019, 20:05

    2019: UE: British exit.
    F1: Williams exit?
29. 

    Chris
    18th February 2019, 7:56

    Embarrassing? Sad? Palmface even? Don’t know which word is appropriate for this Williams slow-motion car-crash…they seem unable to run the team. Daddy’s girl must go?

Comments are closed.