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Williams is not giving up, despite sitting dead last in 2018.
The once-dominant British team has hit the skids this year as inexperienced drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin struggle with a poor car.
Team deputy Claire Williams denies Williams took too much risk with its 2018 design.
"We did not approach the season thinking we were going to win," she told La Presse.
"We are not naive. We all know deep down that competing with Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull - with the constant progress they make, with the budgets, the staff and all the resources they have - is a colossal challenge," Williams said.
"I think we had realistic goals, so to speak now of immense disappointment would be an understatement. But it's not the end of the world. It's sport and all teams have ups and down.
"Now we have to dig a little deeper, work harder, make the changes where they are needed and move forward," added Williams.
Williams denies that being a new mother is complicating her task of leading the team out of crisis.
"It's difficult, but I'm not the first mother to hold an important position and those who preceded me did well," she said.
"It's mostly a question of organisation and time management."
And so she said her sporting priority is to lead Williams out of its current situation.
"It's the way you react to a situation that makes the difference," said Williams. "It's not going well? You shake off the dust and move forward, preparing for the next race, the next season.
"We will fight. Be sure of that."
Williams said she is confident in Williams' technical boss Paddy Lowe, even after two of his crucial deputies, Ed Wood and Dirk de Beer, recently left.
"We have a very clear plan of what to fix," she said. "Some changes will be made quickly, others will take longer. But we know where we are going and I can assure you that our ambitions remain very high."
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (15)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
You might aswell when it comes to this season, prepare for the next instead.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I don't want to scapegoat Claire because clearly she's not the only problem, but I think she needs to quit (because she won't be fired). Sam Michael, Ron Dennis, Stefano Domenicali, and many others were let go for much less than what has happened under Claire's management. She's clearly not up to the task. Williams has had money problems before, serious problems. But somehow I never imagine that things would look this bad under Patrick Head or Frank.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
True, but to just take Dennis as an example: Claire managed to bring on sponsors like Martini and signed a deal with Mercedes under her reigned, two very good moves. Dennis signed with Honda (and it pains me to say it, but it was a mistake), failed to bring a new big sponsor on board and lost a ton of others, while also failing to sign other big names to make the best of their current situation. I really dont think Claire is to blame for this. Frank, meanwhile, wasnt really all gold either: remember that under his reign, the BMW deal soured quite badly, and he resorted to Toyota engines after that. Something needs to happen, thats for sure, but Im not sure that event has to be Claire being Claired...uhuhu... from the team.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
@Calle All true. The difference I would say in the case of Dennis for example, is that (1) he has a rich history of success with the team. Like him or not, he was running the show during the golden years. The Honda deal was bad, but it was a gamble that made 100% sense at the time. Nobody could have anticipated how catastrophically bad the Honda engine would be. Anyway, in the case of Claire... I'll give credit for the Martini deal, but I also think the deal was not renewed largely due to the under performance of the team and drivers who couldn't represent their brand properly (or couldn't even legally wear the Martini logo). The Mercedes engine was no great score. Mercedes had surplus capacity and Williams needed an engine.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
True, but this isnt The Dennis. The Dennis we had now was different to what we had back then. They took a risk for sure, but the way they handled that risk was abysmal, and worsened an already grave situation. So far, Claire hasnt even really done the mistakes Dennis did back then. And I personally would rate Williams' switch to Merc' as a success on their behalf, because they too took a risk, and delivered on it for two years. As for the Martini deal: as far as I've heard, Martini never intended to extend the deal to begin with. Their mediocre performance later on, and abysmal 2018 season, probably increased their determination, but AFAIK, it wasnt ever meant to be something longterm... Sadly. I will sure miss that livery though. But as I've said before: this could mean that Williams is the new Sauber, and McLaren is the new Williams. Which is a pity.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
How re-assuring.
Bhurt
Posts: 320
She's in an impossible situation. The team obviously has enormous financial problems (even more so for next season) and a car that performs like it was designed by monkeys.
Unless they form a much closer bond with Mercedes I would worry a whole lot about the future of this once so proud team.
mbmwe36
Posts: 533
I am loving every minute of Williams' situation. The fact that they retained an utterly useless pay driver, and added another pay driver who was questionable at best, they brought this on themselves by being greedy.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
The real problem started when they were complacent during the transition when Pat Symonds departed, and they didn't care to get a performer instead of another pay driver. Not to mention, the poor choices in staff selection.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
It's sad, but to an extent it's a like a rubbish fire you can't help to look at. Williams is at the very core of F1, but not the current team. So I'd like to see get destroyed soon, so it can be rebuild.
Bhurt
Posts: 320
Their biggest problem this season is not that the drivers are crap but that their car is utterly horrible.
Rindtchamp
Posts: 304
Claire needs to go. Yes she's a nice person but she just lacks the skills to run the team and it's been going downhill since she took over. If she truly cares about the team, she should quit and get someone else to run the team.
Major Tom
Posts: 152
Williams, as they stand at the moment, seem to have completely lost the plot. The only chance of them coming back seems to be fairly radical changes. Certainly Paddy Lowe, a man already past his not too impressive peak, isn't likely to be able to do enough to even slow the rot.
siggy74
Posts: 194
Slippery slope was Paddy Lowe, no confidence in williams to get out of this Hole with Him steering.
The fact that williams had to go to Merc for help... said alot earlier on when it became clear they had issues with some ideas that came with lowe...
If the truth be known, i bet the guys that have gone are scape goats to cover up the technical director weaknesses..
All credit To claire, she doesnt seem to be a quiter and its a shame the had to take stroll for another season and the russian money.
Think they really miss Senior driver input into the car, rather than the spoilt brat child stroll and the money machine. Must be awful to be told to fix the car by a driver that hasnt got a clue.
Get that one armed man in the car ;p Couldnt do any worse.
Bhurt
Posts: 320
Obviously this is just speculation but I wouldn't be at all surprised if part of the reason for those senior people leaving the team was to do with salaries not being paid out on time or in full. Wouldn't be the first time an F1 team in trouble couldn't pay it's employees.