not sure if this has been discussed, but any think that if williams will be a top team ever again? i seriously doubt so. Image Unavailable, Please Login
The glory days are over for Williams. Sadly, the prospect of success of the team is dim. I give it a few more years until the team is sold to an Indian sock making concern based in Scotland.
How can you ever count Williams out? They have won many Championships over their history............they know how to win. They are in the same league as McLaren and Ferrari, there is no doubt about that. I know that both Frank Williams and Patrick Head are gearing up to pass the team along so they both can step back from Formula 1. They are putting a lot of faith into their very young technical director, Sam Michael. This is a key point in time for the Williams team. If Sam can keep the team going in the same spirit and direction that Frank and Patrick have done throughout their history, they will win more Championships in their future.
I couldn't care less about Williams in F1, my biggest concern being a Ferraristi is will Ferrari be a Top Team again?
YES! Williams has bounced back several times in their history and I have no doubt they will do it again. I do agree a championship will take some time, but even as soon as next year I expect better results from them.
I think they have a very good chance at being in the top, in 2006. The playing field will be leveled and I think with Cosworths extensive knowledge with V8s, I think they have a really good chance!
NO way IMO. With more car manufactures and big corporations with deep pockets ie RBR dominating the F1 landscape it's hard to see any independent team surviving for long let alone get to the top. Williams has lost HP and basically only has Allianz left as a major sponsor. I read he's even entertaining the idea of Karthikeyan as a pay third driver. I believe he may have about 25 of his cars on the block to raise capital. Not to mention there's no way he would've sold Button to BAR if he didn't need the cash. It's a much a different F1 economic environment now than when Williams last flourished and unless he has backing from a major corporation or is part owned by that corp I think Williams days are numbered. And he's going to get pretty tired of lapping with the Midlands, Minardi's etc. He may in fact struggle to keep up with the new Minardi-RBR's before too long. The GPMA, however, is the wild card in all this let's not forget.
the reason i discounted them off? well, cos they'll be in a cosworth engine. even in a BMW, they were not up to the expected level. i dunno, but then again, willliams could be failing in the aero dept, don;t u all think so?
I hear everyone saying how they'll be back on top because of the Cosworth engine, but is this really the case. Cosworth definately has a great deal of V8 knowledge and experience, but do they have the resources and man power to continue development at the same rate as the big teams? They have several other series' they supply and develope for, so will they be able to dedicate the same time as say Ferrari, Honda, Toyata? It's nice to see smaller teams succeed, but I dont think we will see Williams what they once were for at least a long time. They need to make a deal with one of the big teams for engines and seriously get their game together with the aero. Just my thought. Mark
With the new V8 formula, the engine is a complete unknown factor for all of the teams. Williams is a proven chassis manufacturer, so if the engine is at least average, then they should get some good results.
Never count Williams out. I'm personally looking forward to the new V8 formula. The argument for series like F1 is that racing improves the breed. But, the last time F1 technology actually had any impact on what we drove on the road took place in the mid to late 80s with the advent of the ECU. Group C also had a lot to do with that as well. That was also due to a rule implication not due to the teams breaking a new frontier on their own. Now with the new V8 rules teams can actually try to say that what they're putting into your road car has some pedigree on an F1 track. I mean how many road cars actually run with a V10 derived from an F1 engine? Oh, that would be none. Necessity is the mother of all invention and with Williams and Cosworth taking on the Goliaths they just might introduce something very special.
Button's contract was sold because he told Frank that he didn't want to be there. There would have been no point in having JB there if he didn't want to be, which would have been counterproductive on both sides. The money was secondary. Williams will bounce back but it's gonna take a while. The Cosworth might be ok this year. They have tons of experience with V8s
i might be wrong for what i thought earlier, but i seriously think williams need to focus more on their aero dept. because, soon, engine suppilers will be running after other teams, teams which can produce consistent results. i think, in 2003 where williams had the most consistent results? the year where ralf won back-2-back races, in france, and i can;t recall where was the other. btws, it's nice to see a young new blood in williams next year. a raw young blood, something that williams really need, with lotsa fire. why, i think nico can outshine webber and perhaps, he can do what FA is doing at renault huh, a younger guy leading a more experienced teammate.
Hard to compete with Ferrari, McLaren, Toyota, Honda, Renault, Mega buck developement efforts. Williams is one of the last independants with a shot at a respectable finish. A seat of the pants team. The best of the Underdogs ;A great history and a new driver extraordinaire in Nico Rossberg = the team I'm rooting for in 2006. Go Frank go, see Frank go !
Well they lost Honda in 88 and ran a factory Judd motor, didn't do much, but they sure came back in the early 90's with Renault. Never count out Frank and Patrick, but sometimes they seem to be their own worst enemies. I am surprised they ever lost Honda engines in the late 80's, I was surprised when they lost Adrien Newey to McLaren as well as Dave Brown. I think they should have given up part of the ownership to BMW like McLaren did to MB for the sake of the future. Either way I think they will bounce back, not to mention the Factory and Wind Tunnels they already own.
The only problem when a team does that is that you only have them as an engine choice, indefinitely. Williams has won Championships with different engines powering them, and so has McLaren. It's nice to be able to choose a stronger engine when one is available.
In 03, JPM had a decent chance at the title till his penalty at Indy and was consistent all year. Ralf was ok, but not as consistent as JPM but won the French and European GPs. What messed them up that year was the fact that they didn't get the car working till late in the season. The same thing happened last year but they didn't get the car working ok till Brazil where JPM won. This year they never got the car working at all but that could be down to the fact that they had two unproven drivers (Sorry but till he actually wins a race, to me, MW is unproven). For the last few years the Williams seems to suffer from understeer in corner entry then goes to power oversteer coming off for some reason. It actually seems like they've lacked mechanical grip. Last year was really bad but they are a properly funded team with a winning history. They will come out of it but it's going to take time and lot of effort.
Yup, pretty much the same song every year. Last year we don't really know how much development the BMW engine got because of the friction between the team and BMW and their impending deal with Sauber so the engine could have been down on power too. The chassis might have been ok but i don't know. I was too busy watching McLaren and Renault to notice.......
