Ferrari? In 1992 they were in pieces... Also, McLaren - in 1980, Prost refused to ever sit in a McLaren, as they were so dangerous.... Also, remember Benetton in 2001?
But Honda/Brawn was only saved because Brawn bought it... If someone rich doesn't buy Williams then it's over.
Yeah but technically they weren't the same team. And let's be honest something like that is not likely to happen again, especially not with a team so dependent on sponsors. I doubt Williams will still be around in a few years' time.
The examples of Ferrari and McLaren aren't really comparable. With those it was one or two bad years. Brabham has had those as well (1976 and 1979 for example). A team which had a longer span without results is Lotus . Lotus was doing really poorly in 1979,1980 and 1981. In 1979 the first half was kinda OK, but the 2nd half they barely scored points. 1980 was really bad as well. In 1981 they improved a bit, but it still wasn't convincing. De Angelis won a race in 1982, but that was a crazy season and hardly a benchmark. 1983 was really bad again, although at the end of that year they went uphill again, when they got the Renault engines. Further improving in 1984 and in 1985 they were winning again. But basically from 1979 until 1983 Lotus wasn't one of the topteams, and mostly struggling at the back. Chances for Williams to improve are slim though. They haven't had real successes since 2004.
Wombcat. McLaren had 4 consecutive seasons where they finished: 8th, 7th, 9th, 6th in the constructors championship from 1978 to 1981. The reason that they didn't have a longer slump was because they re-structured their team and joined with Project 4. The key comparison is that they had the re-structure of the team - which is largely what Williams have done over the last year. Will Williams be winning races this year? Probably not. Will they be down in 9th in the championship again? Probably not.....
Even after budget cutbacks and RRA, Williams are still a much, much larger team (in headcount terms) than Toro Rosso or Force India. Their natural position ought to be around 6th, depending on how much Lotus decide to pump into Enstone, if anything.
Williams sign Alex Wurz as driver mentor: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97599 I guess it could help... Maybe he can teach Pastor to keep calm?
What is it with Williams and Alex Wurz? To be fair he has been doing the exact same role for the FIA in being mentor for top young performers. It might help I suppose but with Bruno and Pastor in the car the phrase "you can't polish a terd" comes to mind. Sorry thats a bit harsh..........on Pastor.
Off Topic - you can polish a turd, they did on Myth Busters and ended up with the same level of gloss as a stainless steel ball bearing.
Does anyone else read FB's post in a more sarcastic tone than they used to due to the expression on Miss Brauns face on his avatar? For some reason it just makes me think he's rolling his eyes at everything.
So here is Senna's qualifying record in 2011 with Renault: And here's the same record for Williams in 2011: Senna managed to get to 4 Q3s in that time, Petrov also 4. Maldonado got to 3 Q3s, Barrichello none.
Interesting, and probably a sensible move to smooth out the succession. Still don't rate Adam Parr though - until Williams start producing cars that can challenge at the front, and stop hiring pay-drivers, I'm not sure I ever will (I cling to the faint hope that he may surprise us all...).
