D K

Well, Ferrari is changing....
I think their whole corporate outlook is changing.

They have never taken youngsters before but seeing how Leclerc is going to star and do so without drama, I think they are changing their entire mindset.
I COULD see them trying a rookie as well as work out some sort of a scheme between Alfa like RB/TR and be able to shift drivers back and forth.
I see Giovinazzi slipping a little bit. Not sure if he will be able to hang on. Same for Gasly at RB.

I could also see Merc buying into Williams and making it their B team. After all Toto has very close ties with them.

They can't waste talent and let these guys like Ocon and Russell sit on the sidelines. They have to do something. Russell was almost 2 seconds faster in his first test with MB than in Williams.

Claire has to go, get fat and stay in the kitchen.

VetteDrmr

I don't know why that had never occurred to me, but that makes really good sense.

Have a good one,
Mike

sunsalem

Thanx.

And yet, they finished 1&2 in the first two races and lead Ferrari by nearly double.
Every year we hear MB is "in trouble," and every year they win both championships.
I've seen this train come thru the station before...
Agreed.
Williams is going nowhere without ditching The Family.
Poor management got them into their current situation in the first place.

D K

I think it's really their unwillingness to change with the change all around them.

F1 has changed insanely since 94 when I started watching and I really believe what held Williams back is not being contemporary enough. They have very little communication within the team.
There is no excusable reason why newcomers like Haas are waxing the floor with them being the smallest team on the grid!

sunsalem

IF they were smart, they would sell the business and hopefully get enough to live well for the rest of their lives.
But I don't think they're smart.
My guess is they will hang on until nothing is left except for a rusty set of spanners...

Thunder22

williams would have been fine with the family if they had replaced father williams with son williams instead of daughter williams.

karma. it's a bitch.

mattastick

This is part of making the "high rake" cars work. First, it puts the front wing nearly on the ground for maximum downforce at lower speeds (front wing height is relative to the plank, but if you can put the "reference plane" underground at the location of the front wing, you can lower the front wing considerably for more ground effect). The rear wing is also higher in the air at these speeds (remember, every height/location is based on the reference plane which is the flat section of the floor at the tea tray area), so it's easy to find downforce there to balance the front wing. Then, you set the car up with a very soft heave element in the rear that allows the rear to squat as downforce increases, which levels out the car, reduces drag, and increases top speed. This has been a trademark of Red Bull for years. Adjust the rear suspension heave element stiffness so that you're at the right height for your corner speeds at each track, and you're basically done. Sadly, it's very difficult to establish the aero map and suspension handling map that makes this setup work correctly. But once you have that data, it should be pretty straight forward.

AND0

Turbulent Jet Ignition

What a great article!

Merci beaucoup!

D K

agreed

BKorsaire

Salut ANDO,

bienvenu here on the F1 thread !

I don't know if Claire is a bitch, but what I say is she is notoriously incompetent and, as someone said earlier, Sir Williams' son was more competent and suited for the position. Why was he dismissed? Moreover, nowadays, even ingenious craftsmanship no longer exists in F1 when you see factories like Renault or Honda struggling, it is no longer possible. They must have the courage at Williams to review the shareholding structure and its composition by opening up more outwards.

Head's return is welcome but given his age, his mission can only be temporary and allow the team not to sink completely. It can enable the different departments to cooperate better, to review the internal organization, but the problem is not only there. The previous Monisha Kaltenborn, without being sexist or misogynist, should inspire "*****" to think : she was fired and the results were immediate with Fred Vasseur !

V4 : is it already the Leclerc effect after the Ricci effect in 2014/2015 at RBR ? V4 said yesterday that he was ready to withdraw if he didn't like the F1 rules !

sunsalem

Claire's mea culpa:
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...eams_F1_slump/
Yeah, no kidding...

Mick admits Ferrari has over 1,000hp in 2019:
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...i_has_1000bhp/

Aero changes seem to be working:
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...nt_in_Bahrain/
Need a few more races to convince me.

Alonso not tempted...yet:
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...or_a_comeback/
Not too surprising...he wants to fight for podiums, not in the midpack.

MB knows what to do:
http://gptoday.com/full_story/view/6...o_develop_W10/
Uh-oh, here we go again.

VetteDrmr

There was no "mea culpa" there. Yeah, yeah, yeah, "it's all my fault." BUT, "we made a mistake, but we won't even hint what that mistake was. We'll fix it, as long as we don't lose our heritage and soul." (yeah, those are my words).

Hey, Claire, you want to a real mea culpa? Come clean about what the mistake was, and what you're going to do to fix it. Otherwise just sell the team.

Quote:

Aero changes seem to be working:

I'm with you, we need a few more races. But so far so good.

Quote:

Alonso not tempted...yet:

I'm done with FA. He's burned a lot of bridges (the latest being "I want to race in Indycar. Oh, no I don't, I only want to WIN the Indy 500. Other than that race I don't care about your sniveling series).

What top team is going to make a seat for him? Red Bull? Ferrari (oops, sorry, burnt that bridge)? Mercedes?

Good articles, thanks for sharing!

Have a good one,
Mike

93Polo

Alonso couldn't run in Indy as he was contracted to Toyota for the WEC Super Season which conflicts with the IRL. So much was blown out of proportion by the media. I don't care if he runs F1 or not but saying he was open to the IRL isn't a reason to dislike him.

sunsalem

I thought he was still a go for Indy...
Oh well.

VetteDrmr

1. IRL is long dead.
2. I think McLaren is still working with Andretti Motorsports for at least the Indy 500. BUT, Alonso led a lot of people on about going into Indycar after his retirement. He was either supremely stupid about his WEC contracts, or he never intended to run Indycar, just wanted to grease the skids to get his Indy 500 ride.

Have a good one,
Mike

sunsalem

True.

I didn't think he led anyone "on" about joining Indycar.
He looked at it and said no.
IIRC, it was always just the 500 that held his interest.

93Polo

Indy Series, IRL whatever I rarely watch their races.

I thought he was interested and open to an Indy season. However, it isn't as simple as just saying yes. I thought he is still under contract to McLaren who would have some say. Honda was not on good terms with McLaren and Alonso which complicated any help from Andretti. Further he is contracted to run the WEC Super Season which I believe ends with Le Mans this year.

Contracts go through negotiations all the time and don't work out especially with as many moving parts as a full IRL season when he is under contract to one team who allowed him to be contracted to another team. If you remember the Button/Williams contract dispute years ago F1 driver contracts are often very complicated with details that are not public.

https://www.indystar.com/story/sport...ar/1018541002/

sunsalem

Should Alonso win the Indy 500, it would be good for all parties involved (IMO).
He made quite a splash in his first attempt and could have very easily have won the race.

Nowanker

Ironic, that it was a failed HONDA engine that put him out!

93Polo

He'll be running a Chevy this year.