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I really hope to see a "good" season. It has to be better than the last one, and I'm hoping the boys can score consistently this year.

Mr-E wrote:I really hope to see a "good" season. It has to be better than the last one, and I'm hoping the boys can score consistently this year.

Here's hoping!

Its the Williams Renault - Senna pairing part 2

also, the livery of the car in testing is similar to the Rothmans one used in 1994.

I wish they have a good year, and start to move back to the top of the field (where they belong)

...to the top it's a long shot, since the other teams aren't exactly sitting on their butts. But still, it would be a good progress to jump over Toro Rosso and Sauber for a 5th or 6th place in the championship this year. Yes, Renault is a good addition to the team, giving them a confidence boost (due to history) besides the extra-hp. But we'll have to see about their driver performance; in my opinion Papa Frank took quite a lot of chances with their driver line-up this year (well, chances and a sack full of dough to go with it).

I'd be soooo pleased if either (or better yet, both) driver(s) can score regular points throughout the year.

A podium would be stellar

Difficult nowadays though, what with RB, Macca, Ferrari, Merc expected to be the top four and Williams fighting it out with Lotus, FI and Sauber...

...which in itself would be an improvement, since at the end of last year they were fighting mostly with Caterham and Toro Rosso.
Ah, well, good luck to the guys, they really need it. it would be really shame to lose such a big name from the F1 and they way things were going the last years, I doubt Frank Williams will continue forever - unless a change for the better.

I'm a huge fan of Sir Frank and would love to see his team climb back up to respectability. The team has gone through a complete restructuring in an attempt to get off the path of decline and go the other way.

So far we have seen two testing weeks, and what is really relevant is laps put in. Right now pace isn't important, but any issues or breakdowns can set any team back. And when you look at testing so far, Williams leads everyone so far, with 826 laps. That averages over a hundred laps per day.

This is how things look after two tests:

1. Williams 826 laps / 3,760.6 km / 2,328.7 mi

2. McLaren 777 laps / 3,545.8 km / 2,195.1 mi

3. Mercedes 747 / 3,398.3 km / 2,104.5 mi
- 2012 car: 399 laps / 1,857.4 km / 1,147.1 mi
- 2011 car: 348 laps / 1,540.9 km / 957.4 mi

4. Sauber 693 laps / 3,158.0 km / 1,955.2 mi

5. Red Bull 662 laps / 3,014.2 km / 1,866.5 mi

6. Ferrari 617 laps / 2,811.3 km / 1,740.7 mi

7. Toro Rosso 612 laps / 2,777.1 km / 1,720.3 mi

8. Force India 602 laps / 2,758.9 km / 1,704.7 mi

9. Caterham 598 laps / 2,702.4 km / 1,674.8 mi

10. Lotus 411 laps / 1,821.5 km / 1,131.5 mi

11. 2011 Marussia 338 laps / 1,573.4 km / 971.7 mi

12. 2011 HRT 108 laps / 478.2 km / 297.1 mi

I suppose it's all down to whether you subscribe to if it's better to be in the position of:

1) having to make a reliable car fast, or

2) having to make a fast car reliable

That aside, it's a much better position for Williams to be in than last year. I hope they've learn't alot from this running.

Popping in to say "hello" to the other Williams fans.

Now for me, this year is all about development - I don't expect the team to be winning races, that's an unrealistic viewpoint - but for me, it's about understanding the car, and developing the appropriate updates to keep this car moving forwards with momentum.

I want to see regular points, challenging for podiums, and watch this team turn their fortunes around over the next few years.

A repeat of 2011 will almost have Williams with their backs against the proverbial wall - this must be avoided at all costs.

Bold prediction - Williams to finish 5th in this years constructors championship - both drivers to stand upon the podium at some stage of the season.

Alex Wurz to have a major input into the development of the 2 drivers.

2013 to be a return to being a member of the "Big 3".

Sir Frank to step down form board: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 13063.html

Inevitable I guess. But the look at that imperious gaze of Williams jnr - no doubting the genes there!

DOLOMITE wrote:Sir Frank to step down form board: http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 13063.html

Inevitable I guess. But the look at that imperious gaze of Williams jnr - no doubting the genes there!

The end of an era but as the man says himself "next stage in the gradual but inevitable process of handing over the reins to the next generation".. And he will still be team principal and majority shareholder.

I've always been a fan of Williams from early 90s yeah baby

The new partnership with Renault should inevitably bring some laptime. It'll be tje same powerplant as RedBull after all..

About FW stepping down from the board. Sounds like another step in their major restructuring to me.

First Patrick, now Frank.
They need it though. Williams need to blow out the cobwebs and do something different, something fresh and something new

Come on Williams

Fingers crossed they move forward.... not much room left to go backwards

Hope Parr does not turn out to be another of Frank's 'wrong' decisions.

He got rid of Sam Michael which for me is Williams best off track manouvre in years

Things could be looking up! Great qualification from Maldonado - less than 0.3 from the Bulls!

Didn't see the quali, but results (Maldonado) is pretty good.

Seems like the pace is much better this year, not so good from Senna but you can expect him to improve in future. Pastor I feel is also very underrated and had a bad season last year under-performing massively, but the main thing is he gained vital experience to help him this year.

Go on Williams!

Was pretty happy to see Maldonado qualify so well today!
I like Williams, shame to see them do so poorly last season.

Enough of last season.
Let's look towards this season.

Great top 10 spot for Maldonado.

Fantastic to see Williams on form again, though lets wait for Malaysia before getting too excited. Lets hope for a good double points finish tomorrow

+ The car actually has potential. Something we haven't seen for a while.
- The drivers. Sure, Maldonado had a good position but made some mistakes and the last one cost the team and him some good points. Senna had a tough race and didn't impress. Lets hope he has a better result in quali next weekend and see what he can do.

That Alonso-Maldonado battle brought me some nostalgia and made me remember the battle of Ferrari vs Williams in 1997. Schumacher and Villeneuve. The Williams had a very similar livery.

Great race from Senna! Such a shame about Maldonado having to retire. This season is really looking bright and the car keep looking solid, especially in the dry.

Congrats to Bruno!

Gutted for Maldonado. Rotten luck after what happenned last week.

Bruno did a brilliant race

Those Sector 2 times were brilliant in clean air, the car has got great aero, Williams have struggled recently here.

Gillan, Coughlan.

Yup, in clear air only Webber seemed to be faster than them for quite a time. Let's hope they can keep up with development of the car.

Chairman Adam Parr leaves Williams F1 Team -

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98402

fatboy72 wrote:Chairman Adam Parr leaves Williams F1 Team -

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/98402

Weird time to leave.. Seems rather sudden..

Better results than Ferrari and Sauber, great racing from both should help silence the drivers' critics.

Yeah, they had a bad quali, but their race pace is great. Putting 2008 aside (with weird Australia race), this is the best start of season for Williams since 2005.

Yeah really impressed, especilly with the way Maldonado challenged Grosjean. Although Bruno came close to taking them both off at the start.

Really impressive showing today. They were where they were on merit too.

TakumaSatoforthewin wrote:Yeah really impressed, especilly with the way Maldonado challenged Grosjean. Although Bruno came close to taking them both off at the start.

If you have an opportunity, watch the start again, and take a look at who was actually the one locking a tire and creating a mess in the first corner...

Happy 70th Birthday Sir Frank!!

http://www.williamsf1.com/gallery/happy ... -sir-frank

Is Bottas going to take over Senna's car for FP1 all the time this year or will it be shared with maldonado?
If Senna continue to outscore Maldonado then could this change?
Any one more informed than me?

Cheers

As for as I know it's going to be Bruno's car the entire time. I think it's a contract issue.

I don't think it's entirely fair to Bruno but that's what I've read.

Oh dear, back to earth. Looks like a strategic retirement at the end.
After a brilliant start why did Bruno go backwards so fast? Did he go off?

I think they had problems with tyres. Still, they were on par with FI, Saubers, Ferraris, Mercs and Maccas for the most part of the race, it was very, very tight. Certainly, Red Bulls and Lotuses were miles ahead, but otherwise rest was pretty much catchable. Bad weekend, but not a disaster.