2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

[adrianjordan]

Tesla doesn't want to be anywhere near F1, it is the antithesis of their very business...

[Manoah2u]

Tesla doesn't want to be anywhere near F1, it is the antithesis of their very business...

It seems Claire is the anti for Williams' health or progress, yet here she still is

[adrianjordan]

Yes, but Tesla's whole business model is "look, cars don't have to have dirty great petrol engines, electric is better".

I could see them looking at Formula E, but not Formula 1 unless there is a change to purely electric motors.

[Manoah2u]

Thing is, i am not point out like they are investing 'knowledge' into the sport like that brings them forward, i'm talking about their dollars and name.
Tesla can simply 'badge' batteries with Tesla. It's essentially what's been written above. I know fully well that Tesla's wall battery for example consists of nothing but panasonic or 18650 cells with a Tesla label on it, packed together, and a pricetag of 9000 USD whilst you can make the same pack yourself for about 800 USD.

thing is, i think Tesla could do with F1 as even more exposure and attention and invest. For example, Tag Heuer branded Renault engines, even if that's to work around the renault discomfort, Tag Heuer gets great exposure despite there is literally zero connection between Renault and Tag Heuer. I think Tesla in F1 - solely as sponsorship/branding - is 'just' a matter of time.

[djos]

Tesla don't spend money on marketing, they don't need to.

[Big Tea]

Tesla gets investment on the promise of what is going to happen in the future. I don't know that F1 would interest the same sort of investor. I say investor rather than customer because that is where Tesla's money comes from. They do not have that big an interest in selling more cars, obviously the more the better, but once it hits a level, the car component will probably be split of and sold, or probably franchised.

They want big money for indeterminate time. Not the ethos of F1 at all.

[bill shoe]

Tesla don't spend money on marketing, they don't need to.

Yes. Whether I respect them as a company or not, either way their image & reputation is off-the-charts right now. Would make no sense for them to spend money/time/focus marketing themselves. Could only bring them down. This is why conspicuous absence from Formula E.

...So maybe Williams needs to market itself?

[makecry]

Lol why are people discussing Tesla w.r.t F1?. If anything they will be interested in FE. They have nothing to do with F1, talking about it here is a waste of time and bandwidth.

[sn809]

Is Paddy Lowe looking for work?
https://twitter.com/SMP_Racing/status/1 ... 94624?s=09

[Big Tea]

Is Paddy Lowe looking for work?
https://twitter.com/SMP_Racing/status/1 ... 94624?s=09

Or ideas?

[WaikeCU]

Is Paddy Lowe looking for work?
https://twitter.com/SMP_Racing/status/1 ... 94624?s=09

Or ideas?

Or (development) driver?

Isn't SMP one of Sirotkin's personal sponsors?

[Sevach]

Yes they are.

[Sevach]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/will ... 59/?nrt=54

No Merc gearbox for Williams.

[Big Tea]

I can see the thinking behind it, being once skills are lost they are difficult to replace, but I don't know Williams are in the right place to think that way.

[bill shoe]

Like everyone else who's a Williams fan, I've been busy having no fun this season. But I think the performance situation is not as dire as mid-season results suggest.

If you figure the realistic pace difference between the Williams drivers (~ slowest in field) vs. the Force India drivers (a really good driver pair at the top of their games) then I think that alone explains most of the pace difference.

The remaining difference is down to now-understood aero problems, and once you identify the problem and the cause then you are well on your way to fixing those.

So I don't see any need for Williams to panic, ditch their in-house transmission capability, and become a component-assembler team. They are positioned reasonably well technically for the next 2-3 years.

Financially is different story. If slow-ish pay drivers in basically quick cars help Williams survive as a genuine constructor for the next couple years then so be it.