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Post by Tim on May 29, 2020 9:47:24 GMT
The Williams F1 team is up for sale. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/52847040I think its just the GP team rather than the whole group, I'm sure they do a lot of work away from F1 and not just in the car industry. |
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Post by Martin on May 29, 2020 10:13:58 GMT
The Williams F1 team is up for sale. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/52847040I think its just the GP team rather than the whole group, I'm sure they do a lot of work away from F1 and not just in the car industry. It says it's the whole group in the article. "The Williams Formula 1 team and wider company group are up for sale after posting a £13m loss last year" But then it says they could sell a minority stake in the F1 team or a majority stake or maybe the whole group....so every option is open! |
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Post by humphreythepug on May 29, 2020 10:14:46 GMT
Mmm I've read elsewhere that it is just 1 option of a few, they are just looking at different angles as opposed to a full sale.
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Post by PetrolEd on May 29, 2020 14:29:22 GMT
Wow big news. Williams is one of those teams you never thought would be for sale.
From an outsiders perspective it looks as though the company has had a piss poor management team in place. Having watched that Netflix series Clare Williams looked out of her depth and last years car being late just showed the problems at hand.
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Post by Sav on May 29, 2020 16:42:17 GMT
Difficult to know whats gone wrong within Williams as a whole, but Claire Williams just hasn't been effective in my view as Deputy Team Principal of the F1 team. Someone who would have been fantastic as Team Principal was Paddy Lowe. It would have been a logical promotion for him, having had great success in technical roles at McLaren and Mercedes.
It sounds harsh, but there has been too much emotion about her being Frank's daughter, their cars have been poor for years. Since 2014 the Mercedes powertrain has masked that to an extent, but now that powertrain performance is narrowing, the deficiencies of the chassis' has been more visible to see for a few years. Its not all about money, Racing Point proves that.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2020 16:54:52 GMT
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Post by Big Blue on May 30, 2020 8:38:10 GMT
Williams have hung on to the role of “garagiste” for too long. Look at the set up of McLaren in the 35 years since the height of the turbo era and the dominance of those two teams and compare it with Williams.
Of course the biggest problem is the financial dominance of Ferrari and Mercedes but as they’ve done in the past the latter could just walk away and say they’ve got all the data they need from the F1 programme.
Selling the team and setting it up like Red Bull where the owner has a right hand man and also a team principal would be Williams’ best bet.
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Post by Sav on May 30, 2020 16:49:10 GMT
I am looking forward to a new F1 with the budget cap and the handicaps for aerodynamic development. The mentality previously centered on catering for big car manufacturers, because people clung onto the idea that F1 had to be road relevant, whatever the cost. A lot of that falls on Jean Todt, and his obsession with car manufacturers. I think it’s a problem in WRC too, barley anybody fields entries in the main WRC class anymore, apart from factory outfits.
I’m not saying that a mismanaged Williams will suddenly start winning, but it will put the teams on a more equitable footing. I actually think the new regulations will encourage new entrants to F1. Ross Brawn has been fantastic in his current role, but his cautious response to new teams has been based on the current expenditure. Change that, and the financial requirement to compete in F1 would be completely different. I think that failure and fresh blood should be embraced as much as success. It would bring unpredictability, bigger grids and allow drivers without big backing to shine.
A key component to that is an independent engine supplier, and that means simpler engines. If that means that an existing manufacturer leaves, that will be fine. I’m not sure where the wider auto industry fits into F1 anymore, with EV’s and other noiseless powertrains. It could be that cars become as interesting as choosing which brand of paperclip to buy. F1 actually has a great opportunity here – real cars, real engines, real noise. If you want emission-free racing, watch something else.
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Post by ChrisM on May 31, 2020 16:59:15 GMT
Whether or not it's because I basically don't watch the TV, I have found that over the past 3 months I have not really missed watching (on the internet) or reading about the results of any live sport. I may be in a minority of one again, but if all professional sports were never to re-start, I'd not miss them.
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Post by Big Blue on Jun 1, 2020 8:02:51 GMT
I miss MotoGP more than F1. I miss watching the Arsenal but due to my dislike of Liverpule I’d gladly see the season wiped out.
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Post by Alex on Jun 4, 2020 20:56:38 GMT
I miss MotoGP more than F1. I miss watching the Arsenal but due to my dislike of Liverpule I’d gladly see the season wiped out. It was one of the jokes that went round that in years to come the grandkids would ask us what happened in 2020 and the first thing we'd say was "it all started when Liverpool tried to win the league..." |
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