2017 Williams Martini Racing Team - Mercedes

[bill shoe]

A season can be a long time. 6 months ago many people on this forum were saying Williams need to dump Stroll (various silly crashes, etc.), but Massa was never in question. Now Stroll has put in some good drives over the last few races and looks equal or better than Massa. Given age and experience, you would expect Stroll to continue getting better relative to Massa as the months and years roll on. If Massa can't outdrive Stroll now then he probably has no legit claim to be a driver next year, and someone else should get a chance.

[Fulcrum]

I think there is an extremely slim chance of Williams being 4th next year; I'd go so far as to say a negligible chance actually.

- Force India have the same engine, better drivers, and a better car. While their car advantage may diminish, I doubt Williams will overhaul it in one winter. Ocon and Perez, as a pairing, should be more consistent and faster than any pairing Williams could hope to field next year.
- McLaren will move forward with Renault power. I anticipate their performance will be somewhere between that of Renault and Red Bull, and likely ahead of Williams. Their driver pairing is certainly better than Williams.
- Renault. Again, better drivers (on average), and the car has consistently improved this year. They would have run Williams close this year if Renault-power were slightly more reliable. I expect Renault to beat Williams next year.

Williams are likely to be fighting for 5th/6th/7th next year, and my observations suggest a higher likelihood of 7th than 5th. Of their rivals, only Force India spend less (if I'm not mistaken), so they'd need a development miracle to secure 4th.

[makecry]

I think there is an extremely slim chance of Williams being 4th next year; I'd go so far as to say a negligible chance actually.

- Force India have the same engine, better drivers, and a better car. While their car advantage may diminish, I doubt Williams will overhaul it in one winter. Ocon and Perez, as a pairing, should be more consistent and faster than any pairing Williams could hope to field next year.
- McLaren will move forward with Renault power. I anticipate their performance will be somewhere between that of Renault and Red Bull, and likely ahead of Williams. Their driver pairing is certainly a match for Williams too.
- Renault. Again, better drivers (on average), and the car has consistently improved this year. They would have run Williams close this year if Renault-power were slightly more reliable. I expect Renault to beat Williams next year.

Williams are likely to be fighting for 5th/6th/7th next year, and my observations suggest a higher likelihood of 7th than 5th. Of their rivals, only Force India spend less (if I'm not mistaken), so they'd need a development miracle to secure 4th.

McLaren's drivers are way more than a match for Williams. They arguably the best driver on the grid and one of the most promising rookie who will get ever better next year.

[Mr Brooksy]

If it were my money, I'd only be looking at Robert or Pascal.

Every single option is a risk IMHO.
Robert, obviously the physical question marks are plain for all to see.
Felipe, known quantity, and ageing rapidly in the F1 world and has not shown constant number 1 qualities. Much better than the last few seasons but still one can not wonder how far behind Bottas Massa would be in the team still.
Pascal, very good option, but having two young guys could be a development risk. And if rumours are to be believed, his personality could make it harder to integrate into a family atmosphere team.
DiResta, no real idea why he has much of a look in. Yes he did reasonably well at Hungary but nothing that suggested that he's going to be a good choice over others.
Kvyat, another good choice but his head has been used and abused by red bull, the big question would be will a move to Williams be the nursery he needs to come back to his 2015 form? Especially since the team is trying to build themselves up?

I think Williams need another Damon Hill, who can galvanise the team, drive them forward and push relentlessly, with a never say die attitude. Robert Kubica to me and far more of that mould then all the others.

I'm sure there's more data we are not able to see, but for my mind, Williams is in crisis and they need serious drive and will to overcome.

[Carinni]

If the car of next year is like this year’s one, I think it is meaningless to consider driver lineup, Just making numbers, won’t make a lot of difference even u put VER or HAM behind the steering wheel. Better spend more in R & D. Like Alonso at McLaren, no use, how many points they get more because hiring Alonso? No point to pay the salary imo

[Artur Craft]

- Force India have the same engine, better drivers, and a better car. While their car advantage may diminish, I doubt Williams will overhaul it in one winter. Ocon and Perez, as a pairing, should be more consistent and faster than any pairing Williams could hope to field next year.
- McLaren will move forward with Renault power. I anticipate their performance will be somewhere between that of Renault and Red Bull, and likely ahead of Williams. Their driver pairing is certainly a match for Williams too.

You do indeed make it seem like the FI drivers are superior to that of Mclaren

Vandoorne is still improving but other than Red Bull, I can't see any other line up that is certainly better than ALO/VAN

People are talking about who gets the seat but that will be one lost year for the chosen driver (bar Kubica who a comeback would be positive any way one looks at). Williams will likely be one of the slowest cars next year and beating Stroll, no matter the margin, will not improve the image of any driver out there. Kvyat, Werhlein.... would just be there going unoticed by everybody

PS: wrote this before Carinni's post, so I'll post it anyway

[Fulcrum]

- Force India have the same engine, better drivers, and a better car. While their car advantage may diminish, I doubt Williams will overhaul it in one winter. Ocon and Perez, as a pairing, should be more consistent and faster than any pairing Williams could hope to field next year.
- McLaren will move forward with Renault power. I anticipate their performance will be somewhere between that of Renault and Red Bull, and likely ahead of Williams. Their driver pairing is certainly a match for Williams too.

You do indeed make it seem like the FI drivers are superior to that of Mclaren

Vandoorne is still improving but other than Red Bull, I can't see any other line up that is certainly better than ALO/VAN

People are talking about who gets the seat but that will be one lost year for the chosen driver (bar Kubica who a comeback would be positive any way one looks at). Williams will likely be one of the slowest cars next year and beating Stroll, no matter the margin, will not improve the image of any driver out there. Kvyat, Werhlein.... would just be there going unoticed by everybody

PS: wrote this before Carinni's post, so I'll post it anyway

I understand your sentiment, I didn't intend for that interpretation.

With respect to Force India I said, should be ...; there is no certainty in that statement on my behalf, it's a probable likelihood.

With respect to McLaren, "is certainly a match," was intended to imply they are at least as good. I.e. at minimum they're equal, but more likely to favour McLaren. I'll edit my post to avoid the confusion though.

[LookBackTime]

[media]https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/stat ... 4008460288[/media]

[Carinni]

- Force India have the same engine, better drivers, and a better car. While their car advantage may diminish, I doubt Williams will overhaul it in one winter. Ocon and Perez, as a pairing, should be more consistent and faster than any pairing Williams could hope to field next year.
- McLaren will move forward with Renault power. I anticipate their performance will be somewhere between that of Renault and Red Bull, and likely ahead of Williams. Their driver pairing is certainly a match for Williams too.

You do indeed make it seem like the FI drivers are superior to that of Mclaren

Vandoorne is still improving but other than Red Bull, I can't see any other line up that is certainly better than ALO/VAN

People are talking about who gets the seat but that will be one lost year for the chosen driver (bar Kubica who a comeback would be positive any way one looks at). Williams will likely be one of the slowest cars next year and beating Stroll, no matter the margin, will not improve the image of any driver out there. Kvyat, Werhlein.... would just be there going unoticed by everybody

PS: wrote this before Carinni's post, so I'll post it anyway

Yes, very likely Williams is just making the numbers. So very likely too not a big deal to lose the seat for MAS actually. Unless Paddy Lowe can fully copy Mercedes for the fw41.

[Raleigh]

There will be more competition next year but Williams is also likely to close the gap to the front, you have to remember the FW40 is the product of the gap between Pat Symonds leaving and Paddy Lowe's arrival, the team went through the winter without a technical director and then Paddy arrived with the season about to start and had to pick up the pieces of someone else's underdeveloped car.

So yes, next year there will be a lot of teams fighting for best of the rest behind Merc/Ferrari/RB, but I think Williams can be in that battle and they really need a top level talent who can carry their own weight against the line-ups McLaren, Renault and Force India have.

To me the only options are Kubica and Wehrlein. Kubica if he can come back at a good level is genuinely a top level driver and still relatively young, Wehrlein has turned in some really impressive performances to drag Manors and Saubers into the points showing his ability to extract the absolute maximum from even some quite poor cars, an ability which will be essential next year if the midfield battle is very close.

[Artur Craft]

I understand your sentiment, I didn't intend for that interpretation.

my sentiment

Really hope they don't end up hiring Wehrlein, a guy who has been outqualified by Haryanto and Ericsson way more than a good driver should. Besides that, he never proved himself to even be on F1. He just won a DTM tittle, why not hire Rockenfeller, Rast(way more impressive than Wehrlein btw) or Wittman, then?!

[Carinni]

I understand your sentiment, I didn't intend for that interpretation.

my sentiment

Really hope they don't end up hiring Wehrlein, a guy who has been outqualified by Haryanto and Ericsson way more than a good driver should. Besides that, he never proved himself to even be on F1. He just won a DTM tittle, why not hire Rockenfeller, Rast(way more impressive than Wehrlein btw) or Wittman, then?!

Agree

[Carinni]

Can’t believe that Wehrlein or DIR can deliver better than MAS under this rule, so Williams really insulted MAS to say that they can be his replacement, so I think MAS should leave Williams anyway, can’t cooperate with a such company who showed no respect to his drivers. Better leave

[Fulcrum]

I understand your sentiment, I didn't intend for that interpretation.

my sentiment

Really hope they don't end up hiring Wehrlein, a guy who has been outqualified by Haryanto and Ericsson way more than a good driver should. Besides that, he never proved himself to even be on F1. He just won a DTM tittle, why not hire Rockenfeller, Rast(way more impressive than Wehrlein btw) or Wittman, then?!

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/sentiment

A view or opinion that is held or expressed.

[ringo]

Pascal had some good drives in the manor, even getting points by racing and not attrition.
Again, i feel we have on Rose tinted glasses for Kubica.. I don't think he is able bodied enough and not to mention he may not be race sharp. Reminds me of the nostalgia people had for Kimi when he was driving a Mclaren, and even donkey years after that moment in time has evaporated and Kimi is a shadow of himself (or the newey mclarens) people still think he has what it takes. It can easily be an embarrassment for Kubica if he cannot manage a whole season; or if he gets beaten by Stroll.
He was good eight to ten years ago... wasn't really great.. so hard to see what people are seeing in him past his prime now having been outside of formula 1 for so long. Again look to Kimi coming back or shumacher to figure out how good Robert's going to be.

As for the car, i think Paddy is a very smart man. The car will be good; the team structure will make sure of that. Maybe better than Force India who knows? It's the drivers that will be the performance differentiator. Driver selection is key. They will need a driver that's 1.5 times as good as Perez or Ocon, because stroll is still wet behind the ears.