2059 replies to this topic

[PayasYouRace]

In retrospect of this terrible year.. has any team ever fallen quite so fast?

 

In 2016, only THREE years ago, Valtteri never failed to get out of Q1 and reached Q3 14 times, after doing so 18 times in 2015 with an average qualifying position of 6th!

 

by 2019 they are the worst car on the grid often by seconds a lap.

 

Is it just a catastrophic job by technical leadership, now fired and replaced? Or is is just money and they are doomed?

 

This has happened to all sorts of teams, including Ferrari, twice. See their 1962 or their 1980 seasons. Lotus also didn't take long from being race winners in 1987 to struggling to qualify in 1989.

 

The team obviously has had major problems in its engineering department that seem to stem from Paddy Lowe's appointment after Pat Symonds left. The resources are there as you say, from 2014-2016 (even 2017 wasn't too bad). Something hasn't been working lately and maybe with a new engineering leadership structure in place they can get back up there. In modern F1 it's very hard to transform a car over a season.

[baddog]

This has happened to all sorts of teams, including Ferrari, twice. See their 1962 or their 1980 seasons. Lotus also didn't take long from being race winners in 1987 to struggling to qualify in 1989.

 

The team obviously has had major problems in its engineering department that seem to stem from Paddy Lowe's appointment after Pat Symonds left. The resources are there as you say, from 2014-2016 (even 2017 wasn't too bad). Something hasn't been working lately and maybe with a new engineering leadership structure in place they can get back up there. In modern F1 it's very hard to transform a car over a season.

 

Well I truly hope you are right and they come back I really do.

[boomn]

I just skimmed through the early pages of this thread from preseason and Australia.  It was funny and sad to look back on the stubborn hope some had about the car, the fearful pessimism others had even just based on the late car, and the sinking feeling that slowly set in as the evidence mounted of how far off the pace they were.  There hasn't been much positive news and hope in this thread since winter testing actually started, but I want to be an optimist and I am hopeful to see next years winter testing thread actually containing some celebration and excitement 

[Brawn BGP 001]

In retrospect of this terrible year.. has any team ever fallen quite so fast?

 

In 2016, only THREE years ago, Valtteri never failed to get out of Q1 and reached Q3 14 times, after doing so 18 times in 2015 with an average qualifying position of 6th!

 

by 2019 they are the worst car on the grid often by seconds a lap.

 

Is it just a catastrophic job by technical leadership, now fired and replaced? Or is is just money and they are doomed?

McLaren from 2012 to 2015

[baddog]

McLaren from 2012 to 2015

 

I dont see it as close to this bad.. the engine was a disaster but even then they never looked as bad as williams does and the car was respectable.

[Marklar]

Well, McLaren dropped from being the quickest to almost worst in 3 years, that's definitely a bigger decline to me than from 3rd/4th to last in 3 years.

[baddog]

Well, McLaren dropped from being the quickest to almost worst in 3 years, that's definitely a bigger decline to me than from 3rd/4th to last in 3 years.

 

Not unfair. but the decline was pretty specific to the engine for that year, Williams have built the worst car on the grid by a country mile while using the championship engine!

[WilliamsF1Fan]

It's tricky though as you could realistically argue that the Mercedes engine is no longer the best.  Mercedes as a team have the best overall package, but no longer the best engine.

[PayasYouRace]

Not unfair. but the decline was pretty specific to the engine for that year, Williams have built the worst car on the grid by a country mile while using the championship engine!

McLaren’s decline started in their last two years of Mercedes engines, and they took a while to start catching up when they took on Renault’s.

[baddog]

McLaren’s decline started in their last two years of Mercedes engines, and they took a while to start catching up when they took on Renault’s.

 

5th both times.. but yeah definitely not good times for them