Williams, [we were wrong to axe Damon & regret loosing BMW]

Originally posted by BMW_F1
I give a lot of credit to Sir Frank Williams for being humble and admitting his split up with BWM was not a good thing..
Too many pointing fingers at each other was not what they needed when their car was not performing. They should have worked together to overcome the obstacles.
I wonder what is the message Toyota is getting out of this.

Originally posted by Mika Mika
"The relationship might have been better if we'd been able to communicate each other a little more softly."

Originally posted by Zoe

Having worked (in a German company) with French, Italian, Dutch etc and as well British partners, I immediately believe that there were significant communication problems between the Germans and the British. For some reason, it always seems to be most difficult between .uk and .de.

Zoe

Originally posted by Mika Mika

"The relationship might have been better if we'd been able to communicate each other a little more softly."

Originally posted by Mika Mika

Williams also admitted that the team had erred in its controversial axing of Damon Hill after the Englishman won the World Championship in 1996 in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. "It was a mistake," Williams owned up. "We thought we could find a better driver, but it was a mistake."

Originally posted by Josta


I doubt Toyota really care. They aren't Williams partners like BMW were, they are just engine suppliers. I think the real problem lay in Patrick Head and Sam Michael not wanting the pesky Germans to give input on anything other the engine. And BMW were getting pissed off with second rate cars that couldn't win with the best engine on the grid. Turns out BMW were right, and Williams were wrong.

Originally posted by Mika Mika


Williams also admitted that the team had erred in its controversial axing of Damon Hill after the Englishman won the World Championship in 1996 in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. "It was a mistake," Williams owned up. "We thought we could find a better driver, but it was a mistake."

Originally posted by lukywill


wait a minute. bmw aren't winning nothing so far. and the 2003 championship was lost much due engine break (williams was still fighting for wcc at the last race - and leading with juan pablo - when the engine went off, and it was not the only gp that happened.

Originally posted by lukywill
the mistake in here wasn't to fire hill (some rumors say that the decision was taken in 1995 - after hill failed to beat ms) but that frentzen was quite a disappointment in the williams car.

Originally posted by Hacklerf
Im not surprised at the BMW thing, i like Franks honesty.

Originally posted by Josta
Oh and on the Damon Hill thing, what a load of old tosh. Everybody knows that Williams didn't want to pay for a WDC because he knew the car was so strong he could get someone else to come and win.

Originally posted by united
My thoughts, don't be harsh.

Breaking with BMW was the biggest mistake Williams have ever done. Now they have to hire some questionable drivers promoted by Japanese partners and flirt with Baugur from mighty Iceland. I have already expressed my firm belief that Williams really resemble Tyrrell in decay, this claim was strongly refuted by some fellow posters. Williams seem to be more prudent now but basically the team's last resort is '09 rules. If they somehow fail with new aerodynamic components or have some problems with KERS (though they invested heavily in this field) the situation will be gravely dangerous.

Williams played with BMW using some set of rules from 1990s, where Ron Dennis could cease talks with Chrysler and get rid of Peugeot easily. So it is very sad for Williams that they parted ways with BMW without some real alternative.

The team made a U-turn in many aspects and now seem to "respect" drivers. I cannot but mention that in my opinion Rosberg's form is floating since his podium and I doubt that the team has been able to surpass last year's level.

Originally posted by Rinehart
I'm sure if Toyota joined Williams in a works capacity, they could be back winning within 3 years.

Trouble is we'd then be down to 9 teams...

Originally posted by Zoe

Having worked (in a German company) with French, Italian, Dutch etc and as well British partners, I immediately believe that there were significant communication problems between the Germans and the British. For some reason, it always seems to be most difficult between .uk and .de.

Zoe

Originally posted by Zoe

Having worked (in a German company) with French, Italian, Dutch etc and as well British partners, I immediately believe that there were significant communication problems between the Germans and the British. For some reason, it always seems to be most difficult between .uk and .de.

Originally posted by Josta
And BMW were getting pissed off with second rate cars that couldn't win with the best engine on the grid. Turns out BMW were right, and Williams were wrong.

Originally posted by Dolph


The Williams BMW combination was stronger than the new SauberBMW team has ever been. Williams BMW challenged for the title, got constant poles and won races. The new BMW team hasn't shown anything like that.

Originally posted by Dolph


The Williams BMW combination was stronger than the new SauberBMW team has ever been. Williams BMW challenged for the title, got constant poles and won races. The new BMW team hasn't shown anything like that.

Originally posted by nada12

Exactly. And when you look at how Montoya and Ralf fared against their new teammates after leaving Williams its pretty obvious to me that some of those Williams-BMW cars were rockets and the drivers just werent champion-material. With a top-level driver maybe they'd have won a title, in 2003 for example.

Originally posted by Mika Mika
Williams admits BMW regret

Sir Frank Williams has acknowledged he regrets the breakdown of his team's relationship with one-time partners BMW.

Williams have been in the doldrums since their partnership with the manufaucturing giants was terminated three years ago. Since then, BMW have returned to the sport after buying the Sauber outfit and now seem close to breaking the dominantion of the sport by McLaren and Ferrari.

Asked if he 'regretted not being partners with BMW anymore?' in a Q&A for the F1 Racing Magazine, Williams replied: "Yes, I think so. They were very hard work when they were our partner, but they were a brilliant brand and they were very good with their engines.

"The relationship might have been better if we'd been able to communicate each other a little more softly."

Williams also admitted that the team had erred in its controversial axing of Damon Hill after the Englishman won the World Championship in 1996 in favour of Heinz-Harald Frentzen. "It was a mistake," Williams owned up. "We thought we could find a better driver, but it was a mistake."

Originally posted by Dolph


The Williams BMW combination was stronger than the new SauberBMW team has ever been. Williams BMW challenged for the title, got constant poles and won races. The new BMW team hasn't shown anything like that.

Originally posted by ex Rhodie racer
Glad to see Frank admit he was wrong in not resigning Damon. I thought so at the time. In fact, I thought he treated him quite poorly, considering he had just won the title. They really should have reached an agreement.

Originally posted by Josta
Oh and on the Damon Hill thing, what a load of old tosh. Everybody knows that Williams didn't want to pay for a WDC because he knew the car was so strong he could get someone else to come and win.

Originally posted by Juan Kerr
He was proved right in my opinion anyway, HHF was a better driver than Hill he just didn't get on with the Williams car.

Originally posted by Juan Kerr
He was proved right in my opinion anyway, HHF was a better driver than Hill he just didn't get on with the Williams car.

Originally posted by Josta


Yeah, those bloody Germans can't be bothered to learn our language fluently.

He was proved right in my opinion anyway, HHF was a better driver than Hill he just didn't get on with the Williams car

Originally posted by Josta


Hmm, well lets compare the Williams BMW of 2005 with the BMW Sauber of 2008. In 2003, the BMW was widely acknowledged as being by far the fastest engine. Williams just couldn't build a car that could utilise it properly.

Originally posted by pasadena
In fact, FW signed HHF already in 1995 but told Damon only in 1996.

Originally posted by Gecko


If you recall, 2005 was the last year of the V10 engines. BMW already decided that they had it with Williams and went on doing their own thing in 2006. They also had to develop a brand new V8 engine for 2006. It's not very hard to connect the dots. It is widely acknowledged that the BMW 2005 engine received very little development. And the comparison goes both ways; compare the 2003 Williams season with the 2006 BMW Sauber season. I am not sure what purpose there is in taking the best season for one team and worst for the other and coming to a conclusion.

Overall, so far the BMW Williams partnership was more fruitful than the BMW Sauber one. The new BMW team does have a lot of potential, but until they actually start winning races, potential is all they have.

Originally posted by giacomo
Great logic.

I'll give it a try as well.
Nelson Piquet jr is a better driver than Fernando Alonso he just don't get on with the Renault car.

Yup, it works.

Originally posted by tkulla


I think 1999 proved Frank correct in his assessment of HHF vs. Hill. I've heard the excuses about not being motivated anymore and all that, but I don't believe he lost his motivation until AFTER he realized he couldn't get anywhere near Frentzen. That said, Hill was much better suited to the Williams environment and was, in hindsight, the better choice for that team in 1997.

I'll never understand why Patrick Head made life so difficult for Frentzen at Williams. JV has mentioned that even he felt sorry for Heinz, who was not allowed to make decisions on setup. From Head's perspective, these setups won Hill a championship, so why change them? So I guess HHF was basically forced to emulate Hill's style.

Originally posted by BMW_F1


In 03, Montoya was champion material. He demonstrated that on the races where he won/lead. The problem that year was not Montoya it was the engine that failed him from two race wins in Austria and Japan. On top of that he was wrongfully penalized for a drive through in Indy. But this was less important since even without that penalty he would have been short of the WDC for the two race ending DNF's. And I am not even bringing up tiregate..

Originally posted by tkulla


I think 1999 proved Frank correct in his assessment of HHF vs. Hill.