Kubica: "Williams car simply not good enough"
- Published on 09 Apr 2018 12:52
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- By: Rob Veenstra
The true extent of Williams' 2018 troubles are becoming ever clearer. In Melbourne, it looked likely that the once-great British team's new car has not been born well. And in Bahrain, it was a Williams that was dead last not only in qualifying, but also the race.
Arguably struggling the most is rookie Sergey Sirotkin, but his teammate Lance Stroll has also been implicated in what some experts say is the worst driver lineup in F1. "We need to see how the season unfolds, but I think any newcomer should be given some time," said deputy boss Claire Williams. Defending the team's young and inexperienced and yet highly sponsored drivers, she added: "We believe that it's important to support young talents."
But fingers are being pointed back at Williams even from the driver camp. Billionaire Lawrence Stroll, Lance's father and financial backer, was spotted in a tense conversation with Williams boss Paddy Lowe in Bahrain. Lance Stroll said: "The car balance is not right, we lack grip and also the pace leaves something to be desired. Everything has to get better."
Some see the talented and experienced reserve driver Robert Kubica as somewhat of a potential saviour for Williams. But the Pole told Austrian television ORF in Bahrain: "Our pace is simply not good enough. We could already see that we had problems during the Barcelona tests. Lance did a good job in Melbourne, but the problems have remained the same. Luckily we know what we need to work on." (GMM)
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Replies (7)
Login to replyjuju_hound
Posts: 180
It seems what Kubica says - the car is a mess, just look at the times from Bahrain comparing two seasons
2017 Race
Felipe Massa 1:34.256
Lance Stroll 1:36.303
2018 Race
Siergiej Sirotkin 1:34,563
Lance Stroll 1:35,266
2017 Qualifying
Felipe Massa 1:30.074
Lance Stroll 1:31.168
2018 Qualifying
Sergey Sirotkin 1:31,414
Lance Stroll 1:31,503
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Thank you for the comparison, that's astonishing that they have managed to make the car slower. How the hell do you even do that while trying to improve it?
Also... the elephant in the room is the drivers... Notice that times from previous year don't look so superior unless you look at Massa's times.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
So stroll seem to have improved somewhat, looking at it he has grabbed a second between 2017 and 2018 (race), but their quali pace is worrying. And yeah, none of them are at Massa's level, and Massa wasnt exactly a great driver to begin with. I think it average driving emphasized further by a bad car.
krommenaas
Posts: 155
You can't read anything in fastest lap times during the race; that's just a function of strategy and the track situation, not of actual pace.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Probably the car and drivers alike. Meanwhile, Ericsson grabbed points in a Sauber...
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
Despite the above comparison, I don't think they've managed to make the car slower - theoretically anyway. I think all things being equal, this year's car is faster. But everything is not equal. Last year they had Massa, and while not a spectacular driver (especially after the accident) he was a solid hand, and very experienced. This year the have a dumbfuck and a rookie, and I still think that that is the biggest problem.
I think it was Hamilton who struggled a lot with setting up the car in his rookie season, but once he shadowed Alonso's setups it made a noticeable difference. Right now it's the blind leading the blind at Williams, and that is their biggest problem.
renaultFanF1
Posts: 80
I bet Robert could bring this same car much closer to top 10... Lance and Sergy are just too young and inexperienced. Sergy especially, Lance is perhaps just a bad driver and had 1 lucky finish, same as Maldonado