netoperek wrote: ↑11 Oct 2019, 19:59
Thanks for an interesting read, would be great to hear some more anectodes from the pit wall
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
It was not meant offensive, as in my opinion Williams is not too deeply covered in media, most of what is reported are the statements directly from Williams, taken as they are, no questions asked. It actually takes some digging to find something other than that.
What You wrote is obviously right and things You pointed out would be expected. Problems arise when there are specific official claims,for example that they both ride with same specs, when they don't. When one driver is getting to drive a floor damaged in pre-season testing and even Williams engineers slip out that they have no clue why it behaves like it does (being to flexible to be precise), questions are asked and official statements keep saying all is fine, "equal treatment", then something is definitely not right out there. I pointed out how Robert is taken care of by his engineers during race weekends - direct comparison on what both drivers are being told to do, very much doesn't fit to "equal treatment". When Robert is in front and they're actually fighting for position, he gets lift and coast or engine mode changes to slow him down - It happened quite evidently at least on 3 races, from what I had time to look through the full race onboard descriptions. There where instances where Robert pointed out mistakes in what he is being told to by Paul, followed by either long silence or "oh, yes, You're right". That's not how F1 teams should work, wouldn't You say?
Some curious magic also happend to Robert's car during few friday nights, where it actually got worse on FP3s and Qs than it was in FP2. George's car never had that issue on those ocasions, so I guess it's not design or weather related. Usual answer from Robert is then along those lines: "I've got no clue what happened, we lost all the balance / grip we had".
May be that I lost perspective and blame them for more than they're responsible for. There were so many little things from Williams in last 2-3 seasons or so though, that I found annoying to me as their used-to-be-supporter, that I actually started expecting bad things from them and take what Claire is telling nowadays with a truckload of salt
That’s cool, I wouldn’t blame yourself because of Williams.. Williams were/are a great team.. but when you consider they were the last team other than merc Ferrari red bull to win it shows how F1 has gone very budget heavy in the last 10 years. Williams should have secured a proper works partnership deal with a big car maker years ago, they flirted with Toyota as well.. but were too stubborn to join forces.
Making kubica drive with A floor that has had carbon fibre repairs because they didn’t just have a new one is not ideal, but if they don’t have a part then that’s all they can do.
Making him lift and coast if the team have instructed is hopefully just the team actually telling him to go easy on the brakes or fuel consumption. I don’t know why a team would deliberately slow its own driver for any other reason in a race?? It just makes the team look worse and de-motivate the driver..But without car data we will never know.
I’m not sure how it could be the team slowing the car between sessions- but lots of teams find that track temp changes can knock out a car’s balance, a change of tyres or difference in wind conditions..can affect the car.
F1 team have all sorts of weird routines such as Honda alternating which driver goes out first in Q3 and who gets to TOW who- it changes per race. So it should be fair and no 1 driver being disadvantaged.
I’ve seen a lot of twitter videos and comments from people who feel that Williams aren’t treating Kubica fairly. I love the passion, but I don’t think there’s anything there other than frustration. There are some really inaccurate videos with side-by-sides in car with people asking how Kubica could be slower vs Russell.
It’s not even worth addressing those.
There is no doubt Williams haven’t delivered Kubica the car he deserved, but like in FP2 in Japan I thunk Kubica was quicker than Russell, so I think he’s been able to master and work around some of the limits he may have had earlier in the year, I’m not surprised that other teams want to have him onboard for 2020 with the oil sponsor, plus the fact he is an inspiring guy.
“I don't believe in luck, luck is preparation and taking your opportunity” Ross Brawn