Two more retirements “not acceptable” at Williams

25 comments on “Two more retirements “not acceptable” at Williams”

1. 

   Ral (@)
   11th April 2011, 15:59

   Let’s hope so. Williams are, together with Mercedes and Ferrari, the main team who have not made good on their pre-season form. But more worryingly for them, they’re the only team who’s made some dramatic design choices which don’t seem to have paid off.

   I’d love for them to find 1.5s suddenly and just jump right into the fray.
2. 

   Mopatop (@mopatop)
   11th April 2011, 15:59

   At least it wasn’t the gearboxes this time.
   1. 

      wasiF1 (@wasif1)
      12th April 2011, 2:56

      Yeah, but they have made a very bad start to the season.
3. 

   King Six
   11th April 2011, 15:59

   I was flicking through Wikipedia, this looks like Williams worst ever start to a season. Disappointing considering this is one of their most innovative cars in a long time. I’ve never been a huge fan of Williams but I don’t like seeing innovation go unrewarded, but well…that’s life.
4. 

   TFLB
   11th April 2011, 16:11

   Maldonado has been very unlucky in the races so far. Barrichello has frankly been a mess, this will probably be his last season.
5. 

   BasCB (@bascb)
   11th April 2011, 17:06

   Looks like its panning out to be bit of the same luck Sauber had last year. Lets hope for Williams they turn their season around in the coming races, just like Sauber did year.
6. 

   Sven
   11th April 2011, 17:17

   Same people at Williams for years and now another year which sadly looks to be no better than the previous ones.
7. 

   davey (@djdaveyp87)
   11th April 2011, 17:34

   I’ve a funny feeling that “misfire” was a gearbox problem. Williams may have to abandon the concept.
   1. 

      TFLB
      11th April 2011, 19:18

      They can’t abandon it this season, it’s an integral part of the car design.
8. 

   Racehound
   11th April 2011, 17:57

   Did I or did I not read a story in the not too distant past that FW passed up the offer of Seb doing a test in 1 of his cars, just before he signed for the RB driver pool? #:)
   1. 

      US_Peter (@us_peter)
      12th April 2011, 3:05

      Lucky thing for Seb if that’s true.
9. 

   Randy
   11th April 2011, 18:20

   It all looked so promising in testing, what a disastorous start. Weak pace, poor reliability, and driver errors. At least the strategy can’t criticized, by lap 10 it’s largely irrelevant.

   On the bright side it can only get better from here on out. It couldn’t possibly get worse, could it?
10. 

    DaveW
    11th April 2011, 18:23

    Misfire? How does a modern engine with a common ECU misfire barring failure of the physical ignition hardware, wires and plugs, which seems bizarre.

    I really thought Williams would shock this year. Either that or be quick and unreliable, due to that wacky new gearbox.
    1. 

       Sushi Meerkat
       11th April 2011, 18:49

       Looks like they are slow and unreliable.
    2. 

       jimt
       12th April 2011, 9:25

       faulty ignition coil, car came into the pits running on 7 cylinders. cosworth looking into it
       1. 

          his_majesty
          12th April 2011, 16:21

          Fuel can leak out of lines or even be blocked. I know I’ve had a car in my garage with a faulty fuel lines before. Just because there are electronics on the car doesn’t mean you can’t have a mechanical malfunction.
11. 

    Adam Tate (@adam-tate)
    11th April 2011, 22:16

    I must say that despite Mercedes being off the pace, and Ferrari lagging in qualifying trim, that Williams are by far the disappointment of the season and that is just sad. They were once a great team, but that feels so long ago now that I fear people are already loosing interest in them and that they are perilously close to sliding down a mountain they will never climb again.
12. 

    Meander
    12th April 2011, 7:29

    Oh dear. In the back of my mind I see a little horror scene with this little group of teams getting a new member:

    Tyrrell
    Brabham
    Lotus
    Williams?

    Power wielding, championship cracking teams, doomed to walk amongst the blue flags before fainting into a pile of misery.

    Not again, please?
    1. 

       Don Mateo
       12th April 2011, 16:43

       What Williams need is another tie-up with a car manufacturer. I’m not saying that it’s a surefire route to success – look at Toyota, and Red Bull’s as basically a privateer – but by and large the successful teams of recent years have been affiliated with a manufacturer. I’m thinking of Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes, Williams themselves when Renault supplied the engines. When BMW came on board, they returned to winning races after a dry spell, and then BMW went on to drastically improve Sauber’s fortunes.

       A tie-up with a manufacturer, or a major investment from some other kind of partner, is the only thing that’s going to push Williams back to the front of the grid.
       1. 

          topdowntoedown (@topdowntoedown)
          13th April 2011, 12:27

          Williams-Porsche.

          2013.

          It’s too much of an idea NOT to happen… they’re already working on Porsche’s GT entries through Williams Hybrid Power.
          1. 

             Don Mateo
             13th April 2011, 20:38

             All depends on VW/Porsche’s position on entering F1, which seems to be constantly changing.
13. 

    Nullius
    12th April 2011, 10:51

    Sooner or later questions will have to be asked about the personnel at Williams. Is Sam Michael really up the task? Also, they really need to get a decent engine. Cosworth is not going to win races anytime soon.

    That BMW deal in 1998 really was the kiss of death for Williams, but this should not put them off another partnership – they just need to get it right, like they did with Renault in 1989.

    I hope they do a deal with Porsche, or Honda, for 2013 and the new engine regs.
    1. 

       Sven
       12th April 2011, 12:39

       Exactly, Sam Michaels techincal leadership has
       to be questioned at some point. We see year after year without improvements.
14. 

    MattHT (@mattht)
    12th April 2011, 20:10

    I may be made to eat my words in the future, and I hope I am, but I can’t see great things from Maldonado anytime soon. It is a shame for Williams, they never really seem to get any better these days. Something wrong internally one suspects.
    1. 

       Don Mateo
       13th April 2011, 8:50

       Too early to tell I think, just look at how Hulkenberg picked up towards the end of last season, or how much Petrov seems to have improved. But it’s not helping Williams’s cause having a driver who needs time to get up to speed.

Comments are closed.