Williams FW33

[aleks_ader]

I can say (maybe for the whole of us) that the Williams FW33 was the biggest disappointment this year.

the worst f1 car in William's history

Yeah you have absolutlly right!

But i m wondering what went actually wrong!!! They aerodynamicaly drasticaly scruggle whole season!!! I think they screwed up in short wheelbase and quite strange sidepods and front end desig!!! Mechanicaly the also scruggle all bit, but this was reasonable problem, beacuse they design the whole new ultra fragile small gearbox... Than they have season with lack of EBD, beacuse Cosworth allmost dont want have a deal with this to expensive system... So the problems are averywere, but in my opinion the main problem must be in aerodynamic!!

[wesley123]

iic the wheelbase of the Williams is one of the longer cars on the grid. And apart from that, I do not see a specific point to go in on, everything of the car seems to be crap.

[MIKEY_!]

Not much difference really;

[wesley123]

correct, so to say that wheelbase was the problem is an bad excuse.

Although the picture shows otherwise these have to be taken with a grain of salt, for example the pictures arent fully from the side

[ringo]

One of the problems is staring me in the eye.

[MIKEY_!]

Yes this picture has a number of problems with it, the RB7 isn't on the same scale making it look longer for example. But you get the idea. The wheelbase isn't different enough to be a credible problem.

[Tyler]

I was just wondering what everyone's thoughts are for Williams in 2012?
Have they hired the right people for the task of trying to return to the top of the grid?
What are the reasons for them having such terrible cars in recent years?
I'm quite surprised that Sam Michaels landed himself a job at McLaren.
I would have thought he's pretty rubbish after Williams results over the last few years.

[Vasco]

I think the switch to Renault engines would be good for Williams, as they now have a reliable and solid base to design their car. Also maybe its good that some of the old guys have left the team, and the new generation will provide a fresh perspective on car design, development etc.

[cossie]

engines are the least of thier worries, they have bad cars for the past few years,

[Tyler]

the worst f1 car in William's history

Actually yes! Their lowest scoring season!

Poor Pastor, he's officially the worst performing driver in Williams history!
Although he couldn't really help that, with the car being as bad as it is.
Still it's not a nice statistic to have to your name!

In the pre-season testing this car actually didn't look too bad - I was expecting an improvement from the '10 car but how wrong I was.
Yet when you look at the car, it doesn't look all that different a concept from the Red Bulls for e.g.
Could their little gearbox be to blame for any of their problems? - I wonder if they'll keep it for next year?

Who's to blame for this stuff up of a car?
Surely Sam Michaels as Technical Director is to blame?
Williams have not been successful since he became Technical Director in 2004.
Why on earth have McLaren hired this guy?

[scuderiafan]

the worst f1 car in William's history

Actually yes! Their lowest scoring season!

Poor Pastor, he's officially the worst performing driver in Williams history!
Although he couldn't really help that, with the car being as bad as it is.
Still it's not a nice statistic to have to your name!

In the pre-season testing this car actually didn't look too bad - I was expecting an improvement from the '10 car but how wrong I was.
Yet when you look at the car, it doesn't look all that different a concept from the Red Bulls for e.g.
Could their little gearbox be to blame for any of their problems? - I wonder if they'll keep it for next year?

Who's to blame for this stuff up of a car?
Surely Sam Michaels as Technical Director is to blame?
Williams have not been successful since he became Technical Director in 2004.
Why on earth have McLaren hired this guy?

I would definitely put it down to Michaels. They wanted a more aggressively designed car, which is always a risk. They took the risk, they came out of the box with a dud, and their isn't much you can do to fix it.

[hardingfv32]

I would definitely put it down to Michaels. They wanted a more aggressively designed car, which is always a risk. They took the risk, they came out of the box with a dud, and their isn't much you can do to fix it.

The design was a team activity. Michaels was just the leader of the team. We can not be sure that this years car was actually 100% the way he wanted to go. Maybe he had to make compromises with other team members.

Michaels also might not be good at design team management. Maybe McLaren thinks they have a better way of using his talent which might not include bring a Technical Director.

Brian

[mx_tifoso]

I too was expecting a better season after 2010, but once again I was disappointed.

But I believe that the finger pointing towards Michaels is similar to that of Tilke's, where he is specified certain characteristics for the circuits and has to work under those parameters even if he doesn't quite agree with them. In this case Michaels is asked for a new and aggressive design year after year, so even if he could do better the team doesn't let it happen.

Hopefully McLaren will do a better job at maximizing his potential.

[Javert]

I was wondering if a FW32 with single diffuser would have been better than FW33.
They were gaining a lot with blown diffusers last year and that car was also good mechanically.

[dren]

I am guessing the new gear box gave them a lot of trouble.