F1Brits_90
World Champion
I think he will eventually maybe 2020
Poll Clip The Apex's Favourite Team
- Thread starter RasputinLives
- Start date
I think he will eventually maybe 2020
Didn't he offer to go to Ferrari or Red Bull both when he left McLaren and last time his contract was up for renewal? As I recall they both politely declined his kind offer.
F1Brits_90
World Champion
But at that time they had alonso & they didnt was a repeat of 2007 & also vettel/webber was a concrete partnership. Made no finalincal sense to promote outside the academy
Ruslan
Podium Finisher
Well, there are lots of reasons to like the Williams team: last of the privateers, Frank Williams is truly an inspirational figure, Frank Williams is certainly one of more decent people to be a team owner, I have been big fans of some of their drivers, etc....and there are certainly lots of reasons to dislike Ferrari (no need to list them)....but......it is hard to believe that there is not some national bias influencing this poll.
Not many people saying they are though. Must be our silent minority.
I fully suspect that had Minardi survived into Formula One's current age, they would be in the top three of almost everyone on this site. So I don't think there's any overt nationalism involved. Indeed, if you think about it, there's been very few occasions where the Scuderia have been a direct opponent to a British driver's title tilt. Hunt/Lauda, yes. Hamilton/Massa, yes (although I think Alonso was the media's 'enemy' at the time).
I do think that due to a surfeit of teams based in Britain who have thus more frequently run British (or English-speaking) drivers, there's a unique lack of attraction of Ferrari in Britain as, depending on era, Britons built a bigger connection to Lotus, Williams, McLaren, Brabham etc.
So, in short, I think being British increases the likelihood of an F1 fan supporting a team that has likely crossed swords with Maranello, but that is not necessarily due to Union-Jack-hoisting, God-Save-the-Queen-singing patriotism.
I do think that due to a surfeit of teams based in Britain who have thus more frequently run British (or English-speaking) drivers, there's a unique lack of attraction of Ferrari in Britain as, depending on era, Britons built a bigger connection to Lotus, Williams, McLaren, Brabham etc.
So, in short, I think being British increases the likelihood of an F1 fan supporting a team that has likely crossed swords with Maranello, but that is not necessarily due to Union-Jack-hoisting, God-Save-the-Queen-singing patriotism.
I'm trying to do a quick count up in my head of regular posting none Brits on here. I think we have our fair share. Certainly there are a few expats as well.
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I've always thought Frank was a bit of a jerk. The way he basically dropped or lost every guy who won the world championship from Rosberg to Hill speaks volumes.
You know, though I voted for Williams I agree with you. Off the top of my head I can't think of a "nice" team principal who was successful. Williams understood that the car is the star. He's got responsibility for lots of staff, of whom drivers are only two, and money that isn't being spent on drivers' salaries can be invested more fruitfully elsewhere. When he decided not to keep Rosberg, Mansell or Hill his team carried on winning; those drivers didn't.
Ron Dennis continued to pay Senna what he asked for, and few might argue with that, but ultimately even his talent couldn't overcome the underinvestment in the car.
I support Williams now because they represent the traditional garagiste model I grew up with, a racing team that exists to go racing, not to sell road cars or fizzy pop, and because of their world championship-winning history I'd like to see them - somehow, no idea how - recapture some glory. If Osella or Zakspeed or AGS had managed all that, and were still running, I'd probably support them - but Williams is the only surviving example.
To be fair in '97 they still had the competitive Renault engine and Villeneuve, who had proved himself the year before by pushing Hill for the title in his rookie season. After that they had the much less powerful Mechachrome engine. HH Frentzen, though a good driver and nice guy I always thought, never really fitted in at Williams and his results weren't as good as they should have been. Then when he went to Jordan his form and results looked much better again I always thought.
Patrick Head and Sir Frank didn't like to coddle drivers, they weren't in racing for that. As has been said already, for them it was about the team and the car, not the drivers who guided it to glory for them.
Off topic but I'll just say this - losing Newey was a big blow, but I doubt he would still be there now anyway. They were competitive without him in the BMW years and should have won in 2003. Not having a replacement manufacturer to partner with when BMW pulled out left them with a huge financial shortfall from 2006-on, leading to the situation we have now.
I dont know how long Newey would have remained there, he has been at Red Bull for many years now.
I do agree with the position generally of Williams towards the drivers, although that is a position that you can take whilst dominant. I do have a massive amount of respect for what he achieved, and I still have a desire to see the team back at the front, which appears a remote possibility, as these are very different times, which I feel is to the detriment of the sport.
I do agree with the position generally of Williams towards the drivers, although that is a position that you can take whilst dominant. I do have a massive amount of respect for what he achieved, and I still have a desire to see the team back at the front, which appears a remote possibility, as these are very different times, which I feel is to the detriment of the sport.
Newey isn't saying what he intends to do next. Wouldn't it be nice if he teamed up with Williams again.
As much as Newey was a huge asset to Williams the main thing they lost was Patrick Head who created a technical focus for the team. You would hope Paddy Lowe would be able to bring that focus back but he hasn't as yet. I know this might not be popular but I don't think Claire Williams is all that either, or maybe she is just too deferential to her father?
Il_leone
World Champion
Williams was always Frank and Patrick's team
I don't know if Paddy Lowe would have made a better team principal but he was meant to have moved from Mclaren to Williams until Toto decided to seek his fortune elsewhere and persuaded Paddy to go with him
Williams it has always been about the car , they should have done better with the BMW engine which was powerful but the design overlooked that their chassis was poor and the car in 00's was quick thanks to the Michelin tyres and the engine.
The fall out with BMW then was not as painful other than 1 truly awful season in 2006. When Renault supplied them engines in 2012, the car was actually good but it was unfortunately in the hands of Maldonado who had a tendency to be accident prone rather than someone with more talent in Hulkenberg
2013 was a disaster and Mike Coughlan took the blame and left the team considering that the other two Renault powered teams were fighting for wins - Lotus and Red Bull.
I will say that Williams remains the last of the true privateer teams
I don't know if Paddy Lowe would have made a better team principal but he was meant to have moved from Mclaren to Williams until Toto decided to seek his fortune elsewhere and persuaded Paddy to go with him
Williams it has always been about the car , they should have done better with the BMW engine which was powerful but the design overlooked that their chassis was poor and the car in 00's was quick thanks to the Michelin tyres and the engine.
The fall out with BMW then was not as painful other than 1 truly awful season in 2006. When Renault supplied them engines in 2012, the car was actually good but it was unfortunately in the hands of Maldonado who had a tendency to be accident prone rather than someone with more talent in Hulkenberg
2013 was a disaster and Mike Coughlan took the blame and left the team considering that the other two Renault powered teams were fighting for wins - Lotus and Red Bull.
I will say that Williams remains the last of the true privateer teams
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