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With the positive news emerging on Tuesday that Force India has been rescued from administration, securing the future of some 405 jobs, it could potentially spell bad news for another Formula 1 team.
Williams has found itself in a disastrous situation this season, building an aerodynamically flawed car that isn't allowing Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin to push it to its limits. So far in 2018, it has finished inside the top ten once - at Baku in the hands of Stroll.
But it now appears as though the Canadian driver will be departing the team at the end of the year and heading to Force India after his father Lawrence led a consortium that has secured the future of the Silverstone-based outfit, who celebrate ten years in F1 this year.
Stroll reportedly offers somewhere in the region of $30 million per year for a Williams drive, which aids the Grove squad in its car development. However, it will now likely lose that money, as Stroll senior, a capable and respected businessman, has decided to invest elsewhere in F1.
Williams was also dealt with a blow over pre-season testing when it was announced that Martini would be leaving the team at the end of the year as its title sponsor. With Stroll and Martini departing, Williams is set to see a significant drop in income.
Deputy team principal Claire Williams says that she is not worried about the future of the team her father built, claiming that they have a plan in the pipeline. Williams will purchase gearbox's from Mercedes for next year, but one theory that she has denied is that it could become a B-team for the Silver Arrows.
"We will never be someone else's B-team, we have to look at all possibilities and assess what the best step is in each scenario. That is where the focus now lies. The last thing we want as a team is to continue as a team that once was great, but refused to change with the times."
With Sirotkin likely to stay on for 2019 with his backing with SMP Racing, the recent word through the paddock is that Robert Kubica, who holds a development driver role at the team, is now very unlikely to land a race seat there next year.
Much like its line-up for this season, Williams needs someone with cash to come in and race. There is also the possibility of Mercedes paying for one of the seats, allowing a junior driver such as Esteban Ocon or Formula 2 championship leader George Russell to partner Sirotkin.
GP3 racer Nikita Mazepin, who also has a billionaire father, Dmitry, was linked with a Force India seat after Dmitry was linked with investing in Force India. The Russian could now set his sights on Williams, with a seat set to open up.
Ultimately, things will look very different at Williams next year. New investors, a new livery and a new driver. Getting through the slump that it finds itself in now will be tremendously difficult. But with the right decisions from the seniors, it may very well pull through.
Fergal Walsh
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Why would they move to Renault though? They'd quite literally go from the best (or at least one of the two best) engines on the grid to one of the worst. And unlike the likes of Red Bull, Williams really dont have the know how to push something good from that engine. And the Merc' and Williams co... [Read more]