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Ferrari's answer to Mercedes...
Looks nice with the black instead of the white IMO
Removed...photo appeared above
Tidy, and with echoes of the Alfa front wing, though possibly a more refined/less extreme design.
Looking at all these and seeing compromised cooling again - yay for “closer racing” 🙄
Williams documentary on bbc2 now.... I do love Claire
On the cooling front - the Mercs rad and engine ducts are much bigger than last year .
That bbc doc was a tough watch, but very good. Bit dusty in here...
My word. That Williams documentary was amazing. Some of the best television I’ve seen in a very, very long time
Excellent programme
Some of the best television I’ve seen in a very, very long time
I'd agree with that, I feel I did it a disservice in my post, it really is brilliant.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0002p1x/williams-formula-1-in-the-blood
Indeed it was excellent and brought a tear to my eyes at the end.
Grew up always wanting to meet Frank. Have to admit to being a lit bit enamoured with Claire, she has a strength of character. Shame about the relationship with her brother, looks like he needs a bit of a kick up the arse to make something of himself away from the race team, the opportunity is there.
Loved the bit about Mansell being a pain in the arse out of the car and the way they all rushed to see Frank in France and how close they all were was amazing. I started watching F1 in the late 80's so didnt realise just how good Piquet was.
Williams not ready for 1st day of testing
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/williams-miss-first-day-test/4338991/
Williams not ready for 1st day of testing
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/williams-miss-first-day-test/4338991//blockquote >
Totally embarrassing that for Williams. What a total shambles that team is becoming under the stewardship of Claire. It makes me fear for the future of them, it really does.
... and we're off!
RedBull in 'looking like a Red Bull' shocker.
Alfa livery - 7/10
Predictions for testing:
Merc - most laps but not fastest
RedBull - at least 2 engine changes this week
Ferrari - quick laps on the last day (or whenever Vettel's driving as they won't let LeClerc beat him)
Not sure who's going to be at the back this year - McLaren & Williams have done a lot of work so hopefully it'll just be a bigger midfield.with no real tail enders.
Kimi in the gravel. Good start!
Probably still hungover from Christmas! 🙂
Not sure who’s going to be at the back this year – McLaren & Williams have done a lot of work so hopefully it’ll just be a bigger midfield.with no real tail enders.
Williams by a country mile - they just haven't got the resources anymore. They'd probably be quicker re-badging an F2 car.
Such a shame, but the Williams way of stubbornly being independent just doesn't work in F1 anymore.
Williams now won't be ready until at least mid-day on Wednesday.....
My guess is there are creditors stopping supply of materials.
No way this should happen when you only have 8 days of testing available.
Not a shabby number of laps for the Red Bull Honda
Agreed that this looks bad for Williams. Not convinced they are going bust, but to end up in this mess is ridiculous
Claire Williams: "It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest. This is obviously extremely disappointing, but it is unfortunately the situation we are in. We will be getting the FW42 on track as soon as we are able."
That's not a confident statement.
Fairly shocking quote on BBCF1: “Sources say the car is projected to be as much as two seconds slower than last year’s”.
Crumbs.
All the cars are predicted to be 1.5 seconds slower this year due to the new aero regs.
All the cars are predicted to be 1.5 seconds slower this year due to the new aero regs.
Vettel is already 2 seconds faster than the fastest day one time from last year's first test.
All the cars are predicted to be 1.5 seconds slower this year due to the new aero regs.
I was under the impression that most teams had managed to regain most if not all of the losses from the regs. Even if they haven’t, it would still mean Williams would be falling at least half a second back from what was already the back of the grid.
Speculation about Paddy Lowes future at Williams. But if they sack him, where else would they get a world championship winning technical director from? I love Williams having seen Mansell at Silverstone in 1992, and really want them to do well, but presumably they are only going to be running car at testing?
Vettel is already 2 seconds faster than the fastest day one time from last year’s first test.
There was snow on the ground at the first day of testing last year, conditions can make a big difference to the lap times.
you do wonder how much longer Claire Williams will keep her job.
Not a fantastic start for Williams 🙁
I watched that documentary too and have more respect for Claire but there is no doubt the team is not performing and are falling behind more and more every year. I don't know enough of what's happening so don't know if its just a money thing or lack of technical leadership or lack of overall leadership that is the issue. Either way I think something needs to change to turn them around.
Sad to see Mac and Williams doing so badly in recent times. They must have some of the best track records of any teams in F1. Hopefully they can both turn things around soon and start challenging for wins again.
So 1.5 seconds slower at the start of the development programme - when the first of their 2019 models hit the windtunnel. That was ages ago. They will have recovered most if not all of that by now. Come the first race of the year the cars will not be 1.5 seconds slower than at the same point last year. Any that are may as well pack up and go home.
It's hear say so take it with a large spoonful of salt but...
I've spoken with three Williams personnel (two are trackside, one is factory based) and here are the facts about missing T1:
Parts were 'released' too late to be manufactured on-time and that's the only reason we're missing T1 D1. The missing parts are composite so they are possibly suspension or bodywork related but I wasn't told exactly...and didn't ask. When she/he said the parts were not 'released', they mean the part was not approved and sent out as a full scale model which is then taken to the composite laminators or machining group for manufacture.
Overall morale in the team is "low af". "We're being worked like dogs, treated like shit, and HR is a ****ing joke"
"We're often wondering who's in charge around here"
https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/arxd4g/williams_insider_missing_testing_is_purely_from/
Funnily enough, there’s a chap in my village who has some connection with Williams - he’s friends with the son of a former Williams driver. He told me that apparently the car was still unbuilt (at least it was a fortnight ago)...I dismissed this as exaggeration, but it would seem that he’s right.
To put the rumours into context I have a friend who had worked at Mercedes HPE in Brixworth. Just before the first tests of the hybrid era his contacts told him that they'd barely managed to get a single pu running on the dyno, let alone a couple of team's worth in their cars. We all know how that worked out.
I can see that happening, but nonetheless it seems unlikely they'd miss a days shakedown and a days testing if they were anywhere near ready?
Make that two days of testing they're missing...
They don't make it easy to be a fan. The fw36 was a good car, then since then they've just gone backwards every year. 😣
Oops, Albon parks it in the gravel 4 corners into his F1 career. That's got to be a record, surely?
Nice to see McLaren putting some decent laps and times in. On one of the slower compound tyres too.
Yes, I'm wondering what the chances are of Alonso changing his mind on retirement if the Mac turns out to be remotely decent.
We have an F1 rookie in a McLaren with today's fourth fasted laptime and third in the lap count standings. The time was set on second hardest (C2) tyres, Giovinazzi's third place time was set on the second softest (C4) tyres. Hmmm...
Obviously a seasoned F1 watcher pays little heed to testing, but I'm allowed a little hope.
Same here - Merc and Red Bull are still the new boys to me! McLaren where my childhood team.
Also hoping Williams have found a massive loop-hole in the regs and do a 'Brawn'! 🙂
Norris is second fastest on the softer tyre!
#ItsOnlyTesting 😉
Looks like Williams will get the car to Barcelona tomorrow morning but it'll be a good result if they do more than a couple of installation laps in the afternoon.
I wander if Merc are sandbagging.
Of course, last year Merc weren’t terribly quick in testing but won both titles. That’s why reading too much into testing is a fool’s errand...but c’mon McLaren!