2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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turbof1
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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bill shoe wrote:
26 Nov 2018, 01:00
2018 Williams, um... Actually some positives-

I've been following F1 since the mid-80s and I've seen some really lousy cars, disastrous teams, comical drivers, etc. Williams in 2018 were not a disaster. They scored some points largely on merit.

Nobody in the team made excuses or said it was good enough. All talk was about the need to get better.

There was no ugly spat out in public. No finger pointing at departments or individuals within Williams. Red Bull says all kinds of negative, whiney junk when they have minor problems. Williams kept their sh*t together, behaved professionally, and hopefully gave themselves a chance to focus on fixing the problems.

They provided the goods to their pay drivers. They consistently put a safe and reliable car on the grid. Both drivers were able to score a championship point. And (this goes back to the previous comment) they never said or leaked negative crap about their pay drivers or their pay driver's fathers.

The team calmly considered some type of mid-season overture from Mercedes to become the B-team, and turned it down with a thank you. They preferred to remain independent. They even decided against Mercedes gearboxes, not out of spite but because they determined it was not the best long-run approach. They'll continue shifting their own gears.

They completed yet another season as the only self-funding self-sustaining team on the grid. And this was, what, season 40 or 42 or something? Incredible. And Frank is still there, going (I think) to occasional races in person. And his daughter Claire is running the thing, which gets her intense criticism but it really means she must be doing something right.

Claire was clever enough to bring an experienced person like Paddy on board last year, and she apprently had the balls to back him in 2018 when it was clear that some other people needed to go so Paddy could do the job the way he wanted.

Going forward they have some good people and infastructure in place, they have Paddy, and they have two excellent and interesting drivers at opposite ends of their careers.

And apparently, Russell gives a good powerpoint presentation.

It all gets better in 2019.
I largely agree with the post, but there's one thing that does put their 2019 effort in doubt: they will loose the Martini sponsoring and they probably will also loose the money from the Stroll family. That's a lot of funding that dissapears and they already were on a rather tight budget.

In my eyes there needs to be a complete overhaul of the management, especially of the aerodynamics department.
#AeroFrodo

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dren
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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I actually expect the simpler front wings to help Williams next year. I am expecting a revised side pod design, too. They were the only team running with a large undercut. I see them moving more towards a Ferrari design. Only time will tell. Paddy should get things sorted.
Honda!

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Morteza
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."~William Shakespeare

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Morteza
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool."~William Shakespeare

netoperek
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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Nicholas Latifi joined Williams!
https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/stat ... 09/video/1

So, the number of wealthy Canadians doesn't change :P
More seriously, good to see more young talent being given a chance to familiarize with F1. Williams will give him at least 6 sessions - some fridays, 2 days at Pirelli test and Young driver's sessions.

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Mr Brooksy
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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netoperek wrote:
03 Dec 2018, 21:36

So, the number of wealthy Canadians doesn't change :P
Not knowing much about this young Canadian, I'm a bit surprised by his signing to be honest. Especially as his Dad (the one with the bank account) is a shareholder of McLaren. I can't imagine that the signing will help Williams gain more sponsorship from that side, so does this mean Williams really did sign Nicholas for his skill?

In another note, PKN Orlan has been announced as taking some prime sponsorship positions on the car, does that mean we have lost Rexona as well, I would have thought that Rexona had more $$$ invested than what PKN Orlan would have been offering?
WilliamsF1 fan since 1989

Raleigh
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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His GP2 and F2 record doesn't suggest any particular talent by F1 standards so I'd assume Latifi Sr is paying for the sessions. Anyway, at least Williams has 2 drivers there on talent for 2019.

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Noetiepoerker26
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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You must be meaning one. Kubica still has to prove himself as the quality race driver he was before he got his accident (allthough he hasn't really had that chance yet so who knows).
Two stroke: a little more than half the power, twice as often.

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Lotus102
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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Mr Brooksy wrote:
04 Dec 2018, 07:30

In another note, PKN Orlan has been announced as taking some prime sponsorship positions on the car, does that mean we have lost Rexona as well, I would have thought that Rexona had more $$$ invested than what PKN Orlan would have been offering?
Unilever, which owns the Rexona brand, announced it was sponsoring Williams’ engineering academy in September, so I took that to mean their partnership was continuing. The reference to a logo on the ‘intake system’ might mean like the little Canada Life logon on the intake lip of the FW41 rather than the big Rexona logo on the sidepod. I hope Rexona continues, it’ll be good to have an alternative to ‘Eagle Sam’ on the car.

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Tattoo-
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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AFAIK contract with Unilever / Rexona end at the end of 2019 season, because at the begining of 2015 Williams signed multi-year contract with them. :)
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GoranF1
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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Maybe not 100% right thread but anyways.....Russell vs Norris vs Leclerk?
What do you guys think?
Why did Russell beat Norris in F2?
Is it due to car, team budget or just on talent?
How did Leclerk do against them in the past?
As a long time Alonso fan i am looking for his successor and i dont want to make wrong decidion too soon.
I ruled Max Verstapen out because he is crazy.
"I have no idols. I admire work, dedication & competence."

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F1NAC
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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GoranF1 wrote:
08 Dec 2018, 16:37
Maybe not 100% right thread but anyways.....Russell vs Norris vs Leclerk?
What do you guys think?
Why did Russell beat Norris in F2?
Is it due to car, team budget or just on talent?
How did Leclerk do against them in the past?
As a long time Alonso fan i am looking for his successor and i dont want to make wrong decidion too soon.
I ruled Max Verstapen out because he is crazy.
I would rate them as Leclerc, Russell and Norris. Norris didn't leave any impressions in F2, and IMO Russell was simply better this year than him. As for racing between each other, IIRC Leclerc finished always higher than Russell (F3, Formula Renault 2014)

Sorry for OT

Raleigh
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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Comparing records Russell and Leclerc briefly met in F3 and FR2.0,(as mentioned above) with Leclerc edging out results although neither won titles. After that Leclerc moved up to GP3 while Russell spent on more year in F3 before following. Both of them won GP3 and F2 first time out then got an F1 seat, very closely mirrored careers.

GoranF1
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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Raleigh wrote:
08 Dec 2018, 17:19
Comparing records Russell and Leclerc briefly met in F3 and FR2.0,(as mentioned above) with Leclerc edging out results although neither won titles. After that Leclerc moved up to GP3 while Russell spent on more year in F3 before following. Both of them won GP3 and F2 first time out then got an F1 seat, very closely mirrored careers.
So they are a step ahead of Norris?
"I have no idols. I admire work, dedication & competence."

Raleigh
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Re: 2018 Williams F1 Racing - Mercedes

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GoranF1 wrote:
08 Dec 2018, 17:39
Raleigh wrote:
08 Dec 2018, 17:19
Comparing records Russell and Leclerc briefly met in F3 and FR2.0,(as mentioned above) with Leclerc edging out results although neither won titles. After that Leclerc moved up to GP3 while Russell spent on more year in F3 before following. Both of them won GP3 and F2 first time out then got an F1 seat, very closely mirrored careers.
So they are a step ahead of Norris?
Perhaps?

In 2017 Leclerc won his rookie season of F2, Russell won his rookie season of GP3 and Norris won his first full season of F3. Russell and Norris then both moved up to F2 where Russell beat Norris, meanwhile Leclerc of course joined Sauber.

I’d tentatively agree with Leclerc > Russell > Norris, but at least 2 and possibly all 3 are really talented.

Hopefully the Leclerc/Russell parallels will go further and Williams will get a rebound of good form for Russell like Sauber had for Leclerc.