After a sketchy start to the season, turning up to pre-season testing two days late, can Williams recover or is their season doomed before lights out in Melbourne?
As many of you saw last weeks pre-season testing was eventful, yet uneventful simultaneously for Williams Racing. With ten teams at the circuit, but only nine cars on track, something went wrong for Williams. We can only assume what actually happened, as the team aren't placing any blame just yet, but the media is... Many accusations have emerged of this mishap being blamed entirely on Paddy Lowe, Williams' Chief Technical Officer and former Mercedes Executive Director. But is that the case? Can this event solely be based on just one man?
Even so, if Paddy Lowe is to blame, Williams is a team and removing Lowe won't achieve anything. Paddy was quite clearly a key component in Mercedes' domination, and thus he obviously has the key skills and knowledge. So why lose him?
Many things can cause a Formula 1 team to grind to a halt: financial issues, missing components or perhaps just miscommunication. Some rumours have occurred in which, during the summer break Williams were already falling behind schedule and deadlines. The first sign of such was the cancellation of the 'shakedown' laps after the launch of the new FW42. Could these issues have been fixed before testing in Barcelona began? There are many parts and components that are required for a Formula 1 car to just turn on, but there is more required to race. But the fact of the matter is that getting all of these components ready requires organisation and planning, both of which is essential in the daily runnings of Formula 1.
Some of you may be thinking, it's only two days of testing... But with a team that hasn't exactly been at it's peak for the last few years, two days of testing is crucial. Not only for the team and the car, but actually for their driver line up. George Russell and Robert Kubica, both of which haven't spent an enormous amount of time in the hot seat, would benefit substantially from a few laps in the car just to get to grips with it all. Moreover, these two days account for 25% of their total testing time, essential improvement time.
On the bright side, the Grove based team finished rock bottom last season, with a total of seven points overall, the future can only be brighter. With the gain of a new sponsor, ROKiT, a new livery has also occurred giving a fresh new look to the car. But can this carry on through to the racing side of things?
Overall, will the lack of testing really impact Williams for the entire season? The short answer, probably not, WIlliams have had a few mediocre years recently especially last season where they finished last. Williams were once the team to beat and have previously won nine Constructors Championships and seven Drivers Championships, but with their last podium was back in 2012 with Pastor Maldonado, the task of putting Williams back on track will definitely take longer than just one winter break.
The new W09 Mercedes was being drawn up back in 2017! But with Mercedes, a team with substantial financial backing, maybe that is the secret to fast reliable winning cars? If this is the case, then hopefully Formula 1 can secure the price cap regulation and actually add more players to the game, not just back markers to pad out the Grid.
But with the first day of the second pre-season test complete, George Russell managed a grand total of 119 laps in his Williams, the team can only improve from here.
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