902 replies to this topic

[PayasYouRace]

 

It's time to brush away the pain from the last couple of years and start afresh.

 

The Williams Legacy

 

2020 is the 40th anniversary of Williams' first world championships, so let's remind ourselves of the high points in this team's storied history. They may have been the slowest team in the field in 2019, but they're still very much the third most successful constructor of Formula 1 cars, with 114 wins, 7 drivers' championships and 9 constructors' championships.

 

1980: Alan Jones and WCC

 

 

1981 WCC

 

 

1982 Keke Rosberg

 

 

1986 WCC

 

 

1987 Nelson Piquet and WCC

 

 

1992 Nigel Mansell and WCC

 

 

1993 Alain Prost and WCC

 

 

1994 WCC

 

 

1996 Damon Hill and WCC

 

 

1997 Jacques Villeneuve and WCC

 

 

So while it's unrealistic to expect anything like that much success for 2020, let's hope that the team can redeem themselves somewhat from last year and move towards the front end of the team where they belong.

 

Meet The Team

 

George Russell (No. 63)

 

 

Entering his second F1 season, George will be looking to cement his position as Williams team leader after a superb 2019 when only bad luck meant he was behind He Who Shall Not Be Mentioned in the drivers standings, and unfortunately everyone else too. The 2018 F2 champion will be hoping to not have a second pointless season in a row, and if the car is closer to the midfield, he clearly has the talent to do so. With one foot in the Mercedes garage, he's a hot prospect for the future.

 

Nicholas Latifi (No. 6)

 

 

The last Canadian to debut with Williams in car No.6 was Jacques Villeneuve in 1996. Nicholas won't be expected to have such a dramatic rookie season, but the 2019 F2 runner-up will be hoping to at least give his highly rated teammate a good fight. I'm sure we're looking forward to it too.

 

Jack Aitken (Reserve Driver)

 

 

Announced on 4th February, young Brit Aitken comes from the Renault junior programme and will be expected to step up should anything happen to the main drivers. At least one free practice session has been announced, so he will get track time. "Williams is a team with strong heritage, and continued longevity, and I'm looking forward to directly contributing to their development through my simulator and testing work." he said, after no doubt after reading this OP. Jack has been making steady progress in F2 lately, with some wins under his belt, so he's a good prospect for the future, especially if Russell moves to Mercedes.

 

Dan Ticktum (Sim Driver)

 

 

Junior series Bad Boy Dan will be one of Williams simulator development drivers and the team are already praising him as one of the best they've seen. He won't be able to deliberately crash into anyone in the sim, so hopefully his talents can help develop the FW43.

 

Jamie Chadwick (Development Driver)

 

 

Miss Motor Racing 2019 and W Series Champion, Jamie has been the poster girl for getting new females into the sport. A professional and likeable driver, her skills will be used in her increased role in the Williams sim and in the car.

 

Roy Nissany (Test Driver and suitcase full of Shekels)

 

 

It's just a fact that the team aren't the front runners that they used to be, so have to resort to drivers who can bring funding. We can't expect much from Roy apart from a healthy influx of cash. His best finish in F2 is 22nd, which says it all. Don't crash any FW43s please, Roy.

 

Sir Frank Williams (Team Principal)

 

 

He may be 77 years old and has handed over most duties of running his team to daughter Claire, but the great man still lives and breathes motor racing. If you don't believe me, watch him being driven round Silverstone by a bloke called Lewis Hamilton, who I'm sure Sir Frank would love to have in one of his cars.

 

He still feels the need, the need for speed. If you cut him Castrol bleeds out. As long as he's around Williams F1 will be Williams F1 and he's one of the last of the real "Old Guard" of Formula 1.

 

Claire Williams (Deputy Team Principal)

 

 

Behind every great man is a great woman, or so I'm told. Claire may not be a "great" yet, but she is running the show at Williams now, and has the same infectious love of the sport as her father. Often criticised, we must also remember that she oversaw Williams most competitive showing of the 2010s. She's grown up within the team and the sport and understands it as any other man or woman would.

 

New Technical Team

 

It's safe to say that a lot of Williams struggles from the past years have come from a mismanaged technical department. With Paddy Lowe gone, the team hasn't rested and has signed new engineers from Renault and Red Bull.

 

David Worner comes from Red Bull to be the new Chief Designer at Williams, being the deputy in that position over at the Austrian team. Also, Jonathan Carter joins from Renault where he was head of composites. He will be Worner's deputy and Head of Design. Both worked at Arrows which gives you an idea of their F1 experience, and hopefully have the ability to get the most out of what is a smaller F1 team by 2020 standards.

 

Prospects for 2020

 

It's still early days, but the budget is apparently healthy and the team are confident of avoiding the delays they suffered in 2019. The car has already passed the crash tests so the team can focus on performance and getting closer to the front. At this stage, some points and not being last will be the target, and anything else will be a bonus.

 

Rumours have the car being painted with more red to reflect ROKiT's title sponsorship. Will this year be the year that a red Williams is an improvement over the previous year?

 

Save the Date

 

Monday 17th February for the team's launch, as you'd know if you watched their teaser at the start of the OP. Testing begins on Wednesday the 19th.

 

Best of luck to the team for 2020.

 

[Francesc]

Thank you for opening it.

Last season was incredibly painful. Watching every practise, quali and race with the hope that Williams wouldn't be dead last, but everytime except in Hungary being dissapointed hurt alot.

So for this season if they manage to mix with the midfield and score or being in Q3 on merit sometimes would be aready a massive archievement and make the season worth watching.

[Little Leaf]

Great opening post!

 

Let us hope the team can sort their technical problems out, hopefully a Sauber type recovery from a couple of years ago could happen here and we can race some midfield teams this season.

 

Really not a fan if the new livery will be red but tbh if the car is fast I couldn't care less.

[BobbyRicky]

 

GigaKubica will be missed.

[PayasYouRace]

That's GigaRussell.

[Rjpscr]

Thank you for creating a Williams 2020 thread! Not gonna lie I want Williams to come out with a quick car and be able to fight with some cars just to shut some people's mouth up. Not sure how Latifi is gonna due but I think it's safe to say he gonna be behind Russell for most of the season. As for Russell I'm praying the FW43 is a much better car to showcase Russell's talent that he has. It sucks seeing him down the grid compared to Norris and Albon who he beat both of theme in F2. Last but not least I'm ready to see a RED Williams! 

[BRG]

I couldn't give a damn what colour it is, as long as it is good enough for both the drivers to show what they can do.

[SenorSjon]

I thought team threads were opened after the car was presented?

[PayasYouRace]

I thought team threads were opened after the car was presented?

That would be the car threads, duh.

[Beri]

Fantastic opening post. Them feels r reel, looking back on the history.

And, it's the first team thread of 2020? So Williams has become first for once this season already 😉

[NoForumForOldPole]

Rokit Phones' main colour is Red. Frank said in 21(?) years ago there will never be Red Williams again...

Since Martini branding we did not have great Williams colour scheme, I hope new red one will be better then both 98, 99 and last 2 seasons.

Edited by NoForumForOldPole, 02 February 2020 - 00:03.

[Paco]

Now that’s refreshing change of pace for Williams discussion. Out of the old and into a fresh start.

[maximilian]

Well done, let's hope this great name in F1 will return to mingle nicely with the rest of the field! 

[Victor]

Fantastic opening post. Thank you.

All the best for 2020 Team Williams.

[Little Leaf]

A red Williams livery just brings back memories of 1998 when the car dropped off rapidly, other than that I'm not bothered.

 

A red Martini livery would have been great, similar to the old Brabham ones.

 

But as I said, above all of that the car needs to be fast.

 

Is Paddy Lowe on gardening leave or is he available to sign for another team?

[Jambo]

I hope for the best this year but at the end of the day I will be happy if the team is at least in a race with other cars.

Then we need to see where things stand with the rules change.

[Mohican]

Why can Kubica not be mentioned ? His presence (or that of his sponsor) saved the team in 2019, he merits a thank you at least for that.

[Mohican]

And he did score the point !

[PayasYouRace]

Why can Kubica not be mentioned ? His presence (or that of his sponsor) saved the team in 2019, he merits a thank you at least for that.

 

Oh ye of little sense of humour.

[Beri]

And he did score the point !

That's the only sensible point you've said.

[taran]

The funny thing is that Roy Nissany actually has better racing pedigree than Jamie Chadwick.

I wonder which of the two will actually end up being the Carmen Jorda at Williams.

[PayasYouRace]

The funny thing is that Roy Nissany actually has better racing pedigree than Jamie Chadwick.
I wonder which of the two will actually end up being the Carmen Jorda at Williams.

Debatable. Jamie has actually won 3 championships. Roy’s best three season results are a 4th, a 5th and an 8th. Roy has been racing 3 years longer than Jamie too.

[Beri]

Debatable. Jamie has actually won 3 championships. Roy’s best three season results are a 4th, a 5th and an 8th. Roy has been racing 3 years longer than Jamie too.

Surely debatable. Yet the next issue at hand is valuating the said series and main competitors. And that is a step too far for me. I like to think that they are both not the world's best racing drivers, but good enough to steer an F1 car. Which is an accomplishment on its own.
And untill they both race in the same series, no serious comparison can be made.

[absinthedude]

Let us hope that the 2020 Williams is significantly more competitive than the 2019 or even 2018 cars. And that all the drivers bring something to the table, be it talent, money or headlines. 

 

And yes...SFW bleeds Castrol and farts petrol combustion fumes....probably whiffs petrol from the can too. A true petrol-head through and through.

[Beri]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but realistically seen the car can't be a regular point scorer. Williams would have to find about 2 seconds in a car that, they themselves, dubbed as fundamentally flawed. And that is to get to point scoring positions.
I do believe they will be a lot closer to the midfield pack. And I certainly believe they will score more than one point. But to think it will be way better with a car built under the same rules as in 2019 is just not realistic. All hope for me is set on 2021.

[PayasYouRace]

Well surely it depends if the FW43 can avoid the fundamental flaws of its predecessor. Time is easier to find when you know what's wrong in the first place.

[Beri]

True. And my guess is Williams having found out what was wrong and bettered or (hopefully) even fixed it.
Yet 2 seconds is a mammoth task. And I simply can't see them delivering this.

[taran]

With Jack Aitken signed as reserve driver, I think we now know what Nissany's and Chadwick's roles are.

[PayasYouRace]

I’ll edit Aitken into the OP at some point, but for now here’s the news on him joining the team.

 

https://www.autospor...ng-renault-exit

[Peat]

When he announced he'd left the Renault program, I thought that meant he was going to pursue something outside of F1 - Which he'd be great at btw.

I can't see how this is a step forward for him, especially if Williams have to do 'parts saving' like last year limiting FP running.  

[Francesc]

So Williams have 4 "test drivers". With less testing than ever the simulator will be burnt with so much running.

 

I wonder if Aitken brings some money aswell.

[Francesc]

When he announced he'd left the Renault program, I thought that meant he was going to pursue something outside of F1 - Which he'd be great at btw.

I can't see how this is a step forward for him, especially if Williams have to do 'parts saving' like last year limiting FP running.  

 

He could have a chance for a race seat at Williams if Russell makes his much anticipated move to Mercedes.

[SparkPlug86]

Thats a lot of drivers at Williams now...

 

So, as I understand it, this is how they've set it up.

 

Race Driver 1. George Russell

Race Driver 2. Nicholas Latifi

Reserve Driver. Jack Aitken

Development Driver. Jamie Chadwick

Test Driver. Roy Nissany

Sim Driver. Dan Ticktum

 

I confess, that I think the roles of Development and test driver in modern F1 are pointless. I'm sure the Sim/Reserve driver would do those roles. On the one hand, its good to have info/ideas from different people, but also, you could end up going down too many paths and not using your resources efficiently. 

[Marklar]

So Williams have 4 "test drivers". With less testing than ever the simulator will be burnt with so much running.

 

 

That's not exactly unusual.

Mercedes last year had Ocon, Vandoorne, Gutierrez, de Vries, Kari, Mazepin, Davidson & Leigh in the simulator, and those are only the ones I know about.

 

 

He could have a chance for a race seat at Williams if Russell makes his much anticipated move to Mercedes.

Indeed, that's surely what he is shooting for, though I was hoping for him to make the step outside of F1.

Edited by Marklar, 04 February 2020 - 12:20.

[pitlanepalpatine]

Williams is seriously turning into the British or money team

[TomNokoe]

I think George Russell will score points in Australia. Save this post!

[Beri]

With Jack Aitken signed as reserve driver, I think we now know what Nissany's and Chadwick's roles are.

Better said: we now know who will replace Russell in 2021.

[ExEd]

I think George Russell will score points in Australia. Save this post!

I wonder what’s the bet odds for this one

[ExEd]

I think George Russell will score points in Australia. Save this post!

I wonder what’s the bet odds for this one

[BRG]

With Jack Aitken signed as reserve driver, I think we now know what Nissany's and Chadwick's roles are.

Aitken = ready for when Russell or Latifi fall off their motorbikes whilst playing tennis

Nissany = cash cow

Chadwick = virtue signalling

Ticktum - God knows?

[ar1]

Better said: we now know who will replace Russell in 2021.

 

Jamie?

[Marklar]

Better said: we now know who will replace Russell in 2021.

I'm not so sure about that. If Ticktum has a amazing season it might be him.

But yeah, Nissany and Chadwick are not in this conversation for sure.

[Beri]

I think it's easier for Aitken to get his SL compared to Ticktum. And I guess Williams anticipated on this by bringing Aitken in to at least have a decent driver in the seat in 2021. Because let's face it; Aitken and Ticktum are good drivers. Not the best, not a talent like Verstappen or Hamilton, but neither was Russell and he is doing the job well.

[taran]

Better said: we now know who will replace Russell in 2021.

 

The person with the most money?

[Beri]

It was so obvious that someone would post this rather sooner than later. It isn't even funny in any sense.

[pdac]

It was so obvious that someone would post this rather sooner than later. It isn't even funny in any sense.

 

Oh yes it is.

[Jambo]

https://twitter.com/...345752702050307

 

It is only an engine start but after last year I will take anything positive.

Edited by Jambo, 06 February 2020 - 09:50.

[absinthedude]

Williams are clearly already doing better. The car has passed all it's crash tests and the engine has been fired up successfully. They're on schedule at least. Whether it's an utter dog is still unknown but they've already succeeded where they failed so early on last year. 

[Ali623]

I think they'll be certainly closer than last year anyway, the gap was so big though, I struggle to see them closing it completely.

[SonGoku]

I think they still will be last, remember the tyre problems that Haas had in the races even made things look closer than they really were. Then the next team to beat is probably Sauber or Toro Rosso where STR no doubt has a more powerful Honda engine compared to last year.

I think they still will be last but n
maybe not miles behind the other teams like last year.

Edited by SonGoku, 06 February 2020 - 11:17.