So, who's thinks BUTTON will want to go to Williams next season?

Probably

 

Wha!?!?! How about a number of years of domination of CART with terrific V8s.

 

Honda does not have a lot of v8 experience?????????

then who consistantly builds cart and Indy wining motors for the last 15 years?

 

Well, the late word is that Button will be staying at BAR to partner Barrichello. Since Heidfeld is going to BMW, that will leave a vacancy at Williams.

 

Honda does have V8 experience, but I don't see their Indy engines really being that great of an advantage for them. While they are very high tech engines and nothing can be taken away from them as great mechanical works, they are not F1 engines. When it comes down to it, they are still spec engines. Hopefully the experience they have with these engines will transfer over to some sort of advantage as I am a BAR/Honda fan, but I just don't it'll help as much as some people think.

Just my take on things
Mark

 

IIRC, Honda was also involved through Mugen, building sucessful F-3000 and Formula Nippon motors which were N.A. V-8s displacing 3 liters (Cart's turbo motors less relevant?). I am sure they are not "F-1" levels motors so not sure how much technology will transfer over....

 

Cosworth and Williams have done great things in the past and I think they'll do it again in the future.

Whoever gets into the Williams seat could be in the cat-birds-seat. I think Williams this year is being hampered by BMW. Too many cooks in the kitchen.

I'd love to see Sato (yes I'm still holding out for him) stay at BAR, and I'd love to see an all British affair at Williams.

 

Let's see...1.5 liter Twin-turbo: Won FIA F1 WC, 3.5 liter V10: Won FIA F1 WC, 3.5 liter V12: FIA F1 WC. That's pretty good track record if you ask anyone of us, I would imagine that their 2.4 V8 won't be too shabby either. I think Honda, like any other major manufactures, KNOWS how to build engines. It is the car and its packages that is the problem and difficult to figure out.

 

not to get to technical and not to go into specifics let me just say this.
horsepower although the number most commonly used has little to due with anything tangible it is merely a derivative of torque at rpm. for example a top formula one engine spinning at 19500 rpms and 900 plus horsepower equates to right around 250 ft/lbs of torque(not as impressive of a number). The same engine spinning at 14000 rpms(cart/indy) making 250 ft/lbs of torque would create only around 650 horsepower. all the higher revs dues is give the F1 engineers the ability to make the gears shorter to take advantage of the revs and therefore lightening the gearboxes and reducing overall weight.

If I remember correctly the a few years ago no teams had experience in v10s and Honda has managed to if not hold there own have developed one of the best engine packages out there.

As for not applicable, all racing series build the engines within the parameters of the rules. Since pneumatic valve closing tech. is not allowed in the CART. and IRL there will never be the insane rpm and therefore ridiculous horsepower numbers. I can't think of another company that even comes close to the level of success that Honda has achieved in motor sports so to say they will not due technically well is unwarranted. As has been said before success in F1 comes from the entire package working well together and taking maximum advantage of the power the mechanicals develop.

so let the flaming begin

 

News this morning on Autosport: Button is staying at BAR and there will be some sort of financial arrangement that releases him from any contractual relationship with Williams

 

Williams was bluffing all the way.They don't need a high priced driver sucking precious resource's during their comeback period. They should have sold out to BMW now they are going to languish in midfield for years.

 

Yep. Can anyone think of a manufacturer that would want to take on the burden of supplying Williams to a level that would enable them to win the championship?

Ferrari... obviously not
Mercedes...obviously not
BMW... been there, done that, seeya later
Toyota... Panasonic Toyota
Honda... BAR

They all have their plates full. The choice for Williams is Cosworth, or be the second team for one of the manufacturers - neither will allow them to win a championship, and there are no other options - all the musical chairs have been taken, unless some other manufacturer comes into the sport (who wouldn't have the experience anyway...).

Webber thought he had finally 'made it' when he went to Williams at the beginning of this year - Williams was always thought of as one of the 'big 3'... next year he will be in no better position than he was at Jaguar.

Not only has Williams lost their engine manufacturer, but their biggest sponsor HP has dumped them, one of their drivers will leave with BMW, and there is little hope for a better future.

 

well, i think it was nick fry telling earlier this week that it would cost BAR 49 mil pounds to keep jenson from williams, which he says not logical at all, as he pointed out michael owen only cost newcastle 15 mil pounds...well looks like he'll be leaving eventually...but, personally, i don;t think he'll leave...

 

Have you forgotten who Webber is managed by?

 

Williams right now looks to be in the doldrums.
Who could have predicted Ferraris situation this season 1 yr ago?
The start of this season many were jumping on the Red Bull wagon.
Things change.
Frank has been around the block once or twice.
I personally like underdog teams and drivers.
He should pick up Nico Rosberg and go to it!

 

I wonder if the real amount will ever become public knowledge.My guess is no more than 10m USD.One can easily figure out the state of affairs at Williams and call their bluff.

 

I predict the surprise team of the year next year will be Williams. My guess is they'll be at the top fighting with McLaren and Renault for the WC with one of the two Finnish GP2 drivers wiping the floor with Weber.

 

I couldn't disagree with you more. I don't think BMW really knows what it's doing in F1. If anything it'll take them years to get up the grid.

Williams on the other hand knows how to build a fast F1 car and Cosworth certainly knows how to build a fast V8. I'll be pulling for them next year.

 

Agreed 100 %

If BMW couldn't get anywhere with Williams, a team and infrastructure that knows how to win, I think they'll struggle in F1. Toyota is a case in point.

It will be very interesting to see this partnership develope. I think Button may rue the day he decided to stay with BAR although Honda are no lightweights at building high level racing V8's.

With Williams still being a privateer team I wonder how long they will be able to stay competitive. Deep pocket sponsorship and podium finishes are a must if they are to survive. They should look to try to get a deal with a major petroleum corporation as they will have the deep pocket sponsorship money as the world economy slows and starts to take it's effect on other companies that may see profits dwindle and hence less money to put a company logo on a car or drivers suit.

 

I'm not too sure the exact reason, but Frank Williams said he knew they would be dropped sometime. It wasn't a question of if, it was when. From the article on Pitpass.com, Frank didn't seem too upset so we'll see if her has an ace up his sleeve.

Mark