2017 Williams Martini Racing Team - Mercedes

[Sevach]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/feli ... ns-952942/

Massa is feeling a little disrespected by the way Williams is negotiating with him, i won't take much for him to go "i don't need this" and move to the next chapter of his life.

[LookBackTime]

[LookBackTime]

https://twitter.com/RacingLines/status/ ... 7900469248

[LookBackTime]

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX PRACTICE
15 SEP 2017

FP1
Weather: Humid and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 29-31°C / 33-35°C
F. Massa, FW40-04, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:45.084 (14th)
L. Stroll, FW40-01, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:47.190 (17th)
Quickest time: D. Ricciardo 1:42.489

FP2
Weather: Humid and dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 29-30°C / 33°C
F. Massa, FW40-04, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:43.836 (15th)
L. Stroll, FW40-01, Mercedes-AMG F1 M08 EQ Power+, 1:44.301 (16th)
Quickest time: D. Ricciardo 1:40.852

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: Generally, we had a good day. We did most of the running we wanted to do apart from that Lance had a gearbox failure in FP1 which meant he only got running in the first forty minutes. It was a failure of a development part so no effect for the race, but unfortunately it lost him the track time which was a double blow because the focus for him today was to learn the circuit. It’s a track he’s not raced at and one that takes a lot of experience to understand how to optimise, simply from a driving point-of-view. On both sides of the garage we conducted some aerodynamic and systems tests, as well as our basic homework on tyres and different fuel levels. Our pace still needs some work, but we will do a lot of analysis overnight. I think we can extract more from the car. It’s going to be very tight in the midfield as usual, but I think if we can find two or three tenths, we can make a big difference.

Felipe Massa: Today was very difficult. We know that this isn’t really the best track for our car, so it was a very difficult Friday. Balance is not a big problem, the problem is just laptime. We’re a little bit too slow compared to the others. For sure, this is a problem I expected. To be honest, I’m sure qualifying is the main issue because we don’t have the right laptime to fight, but I hope that maybe in the race many things can happen to help us here, so we will try everything we can. If we can get points on Sunday, it will be a very good job.

Lance Stroll: It wasn't the best day for the team. It was a tough Friday, especially for me with the gearbox problem in FP1 at a track I have never been to before, so that was not ideal. Then, in FP2 I had a virtual safety car on my best run, so that didn't help either. Not the luckiest day and for sure we need to improve the car and try to make it better for tomorrow. However, I really enjoyed the track here. It is a lot of fun to drive, a bit bumpy but also very challenging. I knew the track was going to be tight and twisty so I was prepared for that, but it is one of the toughest tracks mentally and physically, and also because of the heat.

[LookBackTime]

[LookBackTime]

Lance Stroll (Sky f1) said: "the car is not stable (whatever that means). until it fixed they can not do to much"

AMuS about Kubica:

"According to AMuS Kubica has already been in the Williams sim and will do a test session in Interlagos with the FW36 together with Stroll.

The report says that the team want a driver that challenges the engineers and is demanding."

[SchuMassa]

Lance Stroll (Sky f1) said: "the car is not stable (whatever that means). until it fixed they can not do to much"

AMuS about Kubica:

"According to AMuS Kubica has already been in the Williams sim and will do a test session in Interlagos with the FW36 together with Stroll.

The report says that the team want a driver that challenges the engineers and is demanding."

Now even Ericsson is being linked to Williams. Ridiculous.
I don't see why Kubica would be fit enough to race in F1 if he hadn't been for years?

[Sevach]

Kubica was very fast back in the day, but that was 8 years ago, seems like a bet with very little upside.
The other "options" Di Resta, Palmer and Ericsson aren't even worth discussing honestly.

The only interesting one would be if Perez wants out of Force India, but apparently he doesn't.

[Carinni]

Lance Stroll (Sky f1) said: "the car is not stable (whatever that means). until it fixed they can not do to much"

AMuS about Kubica:

"According to AMuS Kubica has already been in the Williams sim and will do a test session in Interlagos with the FW36 together with Stroll.

The report says that the team want a driver that challenges the engineers and is demanding."

Now even Ericsson is being linked to Williams. Ridiculous.
I don't see why Kubica would be fit enough to race in F1 if he hadn't been for years?

I am quite confused actually, massa is not the top driver maybe, but neither kubica has proof that he is faster. And massa is delivering at this moment, isn't it risky to take kubica as massa' replacement? He can be 1.5s faster than stroll? I doubt.

[LookBackTime]

SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING
16 SEP 2017

Marina Bay Street Circuit, Singapore
5.065 km, 3.147 miles

Weather: Humid and dry
Temperature: Air: 28-29°C Track: 33-34°C

Q1
F. Massa 1:44.014 (17th)
L. Stroll 1:44.728 (18th)

Q2
F. Massa -
L. Stroll -

Q3
F. Massa -
L. Stroll -

Qualifying Notes
- Felipe Massa qualified 17th with Lance Stroll 18th for the Singapore Grand Prix
- Felipe hit the wall in the final corner on his first flying lap, which forced him to pit for new tyres
- On his second timed-lap, Felipe suffered a big oversteer moment in the last corner, which cost him time as well as the chance to progress into Q2
- Lance suffered with changing track conditions on his debut on the Marina Bay Street Circuit

Paddy Lowe, Chief Technical Officer: The circuit evolution in Singapore is normally very high but today was particularly extreme because of oil put down from one of the earlier support races. That certainly caught Lance out. He’s already on a learning curve at the circuit so despite three attempts on three new sets of tyres, he didn’t manage to set a good enough time to get out of Q1. In Felipe’s case, unfortunately he hit the wall on the exit of Turn 21. This was probably promoted by the oil that had been put down at the entry to Turn 20, so that lost his first-timed lap. Luckily, the damage wasn’t too extreme, although it was a very big hit. The car had survived with minor damage which we repaired. Felipe went out for the second run and that would have been good enough for P13 at that stage of qualifying, but he had a big oversteer moment in the final corner sequence, which lost him about half a second. With an evolving track, I’m sure Felipe would have been in a position to improve in the later sessions, as did everyone else, so it is unfortunate that we missed the cut for Q2. I think the car had better pace than we showed today. We will see what we can do tomorrow. We can still race well, it’s a long race that is usually filled with incidents. Cars and drivers suffer a lot in the final half hour so if we can hang on until the end, and be in a good state, there’s still potential to score points.

Felipe Massa: It’s been a very frustrating day to be honest. On my first run I had big oversteer, I hit the wall and got a puncture. I was lucky enough to have the problem at the last corner, before the pit entrance, so I changed tyres and went out again. Unfortunately, I had big oversteer in the last corner on my next run and lost half a second, and the chance to go into Q2. I am very disappointed because today Q2 was possible. These mistakes are frustrating and every day of this weekend has not gone well. We will try everything tomorrow and hopefully it can be a different day.

Lance Stroll: I didn't get everything out of myself, and so I am not happy with the session and myself. Coming into it I predicted more grip, so I locked up and touched the wall. It was a scruffy session, I needed to risk a lot to try and get into Q2, but instead I just went backwards. The track was changing so much and it was very different to all the other sessions this weekend. We just really got it wrong, but for sure the car is not as good here. It is frustrating going from the front row to the back. We had some hopes to get into Q2, but the pace was really not there. We are just missing a lot and that is going to cost us until we fix it.

[LookBackTime]

[media]https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/stat ... 0298537985[/media]

https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/stat ... 5366914049

[FrukostScones]

Kubica
Massa
Ericsson
Palmer
DiResta

if Kubica is fit enough, this should reallly be a no-brainer.

[Sevach]

I'm not sure of that, sportsmen often degrade when they spend this much time out of competition.

But that's only in comparison to Massa, the rest of the list is sad.

[LookBackTime]

Is Robert Kubica set to test for Williams?
Michael Delaney
17/09/2017 at 08:19

Williams is apparently considering Robert Kubica, among other drivers, as a candidate for a seat at the Grove-based outfit in 2018.

The team is taking its time to decide who will partner Lance Stroll next season, and while Felipe Massa remains at the top of its short list, Kubica is rumored to also be a front-runner for 2018.

The Pole now has the backing of Nico Rosberg's management company to try and secure a sensational comeback drive in Formula 1.

Alas, Carlos Sainz's move to Renault has crushed Kubica's hopes of returning to the French outfit for which he tested this summer.

As Lance Stroll continues his private testing program between Grand Prix, having run at Suzuka between Monza and Singapore in a 2014-spec car, Williams could field Kubica alongside Stroll at the teenager's next private test which would likely take place at Interlagos.

Furthermore, reports emerged in Singapore this week claiming that the 32-year-old had actually spent time in Williams' simulator recently.

It's unsure however what Williams could accomplish or learn by running Kubica in a 2014-spec car as the Pole has already demonstrated his ability to drive a current spec car in anger when he tested for Renault in Hungary in early August.

Other candidates rumored to be under consideration for a Williams drive next season - should Massa not remain at Grove - are Paul di Resta who replaced the Brazilian in Hungary, Jolyon Palmer, and Marcus Ericsson who may not be retained by Sauber for 2018 if the Swiss team complies with Ferrari's will to see both Antonio Giovinazzi and Charles Leclerc join the Hinwil-base outfit.

[SchuMassa]

Shameful and embarrassing strategy on Massa's side. Are they trying to force him into retirement...?!