Frank Williams 'i'm no fan of Alonso'

Interesting comments - this coming from a guy who has dealt with almost all the big names & egos....
Tue, 07 Dec 13:30:52 2010


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In a frank admission somewhat befitting of his name, Sir Frank Williams has reflected that he is ‘not a big fan’ of double F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso – describing the Ferrari star as ‘sullen and uncommunicative’.
Alonso – who missed out on adding a third career crown to his impressive top flight CV due to a strategic error from his team and his own inability to overtake young Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov in the Abu Dhabi season finale last month – is deemed by many to be the best all-round driver on the grand prix grid, but with regard to his qualities as a human being, opinion is rather more divided.
The Spaniard’s angry shake of the fist at Petrov on the slowing-down lap at Yas Marina in truth won him few fans, and whilst recognising his indisputable capabilities behind the steering wheel, veteran team owner Williams admits he struggles to warm to the 29-year-old on a personal level.
“I’m not really a big fan of Fernando Alonso,” the unimpressed Englishman told ESPN. “He often looks a bit sullen, rarely acknowledges anybody and seems very uncommunicative. He’s brilliant at racing cars, but seems to have no animation about him. Perhaps it’s his own way of going about his business on a race weekend.”
Williams was rather more effusive, however, about the future potential of newly-crowned F1 2010 World Champion Sebastian Vettel – the sport’s youngest-ever title-winner – 2008 king Lewis Hamilton and Renault ace Robert Kubica, all of whom he contends will be consistent threats for glory over the coming years. And he warns that his own driver Rubens Barrichello is far from finished as a front-runner just yet, even as the veteran Brazilian nears his fifth decade.
“I’m not saying it just because he’s the world champion, but I’ve always rated Vettel very highly indeed,” the 68-year-old underlined. “He could win many titles and I think him, Lewis Hamilton and perhaps Robert Kubica in the right car might surprise everybody. As to Rubens, he is a very charming man, very mature and super-quick, especially in the wet. We are delighted with him.”

 

Frank Williams couldn't come close to getting a driver of Alonso's caliber to drive for his team so it's a moot point.

 

Exactly...sad to see this team totally lose the plot especially over the last few years...BTW love his quote "He's brilliant at racing cars". Hey Frank-that's exactly why he's at Ferrari and not Williams...

 

Frank can be sour grapes at times. He is not known for being kind to his own drivers, even when they are successful. Just ask Reutemann, Piquet Sr or Mansell for starters.

 

Frank's never been a fan of diva drivers. That's why he liked Jones so much. He just got the job done instead of complaining about how he "felt alone"...

 

Agreed; he's built a mega-successful business and is part of F1's history - but seems like one hard-ass negotiator. Given what he has overcome though, I wonder if that has played into his no-nonsense style?

 

From what I heard he actually got "softer" since the accident. He was tough as nails before that already.

 

Jones helped him get out of nowhere. That created a bond. Rega was no diva and won the first race for Williams but Frank always treated him as a stepchild compared to Jones.

 

An old school owner who looks at drivers as employees there to serve the interest of the team. Remind you of anyone?

 

Richard Branson?

 

"Like a Virgin"

 

The boss of Ford: "who is this Irvine and why is he being paid more than me?"

 

No. Not Ford.
I was thinking of a heavyset Italian fellow.
(No not Flav either)

 

I know what you meant but figured it's more fun to find another one.

 

And I figured you did too.
Another one?
Sacrilege.

The only in a similar league was Bugatti. Chapman, Williams and Dennis come close but don't have the combination of pre-war race history and a legacy of amazing production cars.

 

If that is the case then perhaps my boy Rubens isn't as much of a whiner as all of you say, as Williams just complimented him fairly solidly eh?

MB

 

+ 1, who gives a damn about what he says, he lost Newey, Honda, Renault, and BMW.

 

I won't pretend to know more than a man who won 9 WCCs. If he says Rubens is good then that's good enough for me.

 

Sacking Damon Hill after he won the WDC comes to mind as well...

 

Not so fast...

He realizes has been (never been?) Rubens is the best he can get right now so he probably doesn't want to piss him off and I also remember an article from a little earlier this year when he said that Rubens needs to be coddled emotionally and told how good he is.

 

I'm sorry if i sound rude or disrespectful, but over the years, particularly after losing BMW Power, Frank seems to be a sore loser. He just grumbles about everything, and tries to block everything.

 

Frank has not changed one bit in the past 32yr's I have been following F1 and we all know that his main concern is the WCC, he goes thru drivers like underwear so his comments should not be surprising. Finishing on a highnote though I have always respected the man and will continue to do so even if I don't agree with his tactics.

 

It seems as though I've got a show on VHS around
somewhere about F-1 from the mid-90s.

Williams is one of the team principals interviewed
and in discussing drivers he went on at some length
about the respect he has for what they do in the
cockpit while out of the cars they are "awkward
characters" (SIC).

BHW

 

I also recall a number of folks telling mebefore the season how the young hot-shoe was going to kick his arse at Williams.....guess that didn't work out so well either.