It’s hard to imagine given that they were one of the teams to beat in the 80’s and 90’s that four races have passed this season without Williams scoring a point. If they fail again in Spain they will have matched their worst ever start to a season. This year they are only in a slightly better position due to fewer retirements and some better classified finishes but, no points is no points whichever way you slice the cake. It almost seems as if they have been forgotten about.
It’s been almost 10 years since Williams finished runner up to Ferrari in the 2003 season and since then it has been a story of steady decline. Their end of season positions for the last 10 years look like this:
2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 4th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 9th, 8th with a current position of 9th this year.
To put that into context, the final 10 years of Team Lotus looked like this:
3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th. 9th, 5th, 6th, 12th
For a while Williams could perhaps use the fact that they were running Cosworth engines as a reason why they couldn’t match the performance of the top half of the grid however for the last two years they have been running the same Renault engines as those in the Lotus-Renault and in the Red Bull. Having made the decision to run drivers who could bring some cash to the team it highlighted the lack of resources and the clean areas of paintwork suggest a lack of sponsorship as well.
In these tough times, F1 remains an expensive game and with only 1 win at last years Spanish grand prix plus 3 other podium finishes since 2006 you have to ask, will Williams ever be able to regain a place at the front end of the grid or are we witnessing the long kiss goodnight of another legendary F1 team? How do the team at Grove set about re-building their fortunes or is it already too late?
It’s been almost 10 years since Williams finished runner up to Ferrari in the 2003 season and since then it has been a story of steady decline. Their end of season positions for the last 10 years look like this:
2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 4th, 8th, 7th, 6th, 9th, 8th with a current position of 9th this year.
To put that into context, the final 10 years of Team Lotus looked like this:
3rd, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 8th. 9th, 5th, 6th, 12th
For a while Williams could perhaps use the fact that they were running Cosworth engines as a reason why they couldn’t match the performance of the top half of the grid however for the last two years they have been running the same Renault engines as those in the Lotus-Renault and in the Red Bull. Having made the decision to run drivers who could bring some cash to the team it highlighted the lack of resources and the clean areas of paintwork suggest a lack of sponsorship as well.
In these tough times, F1 remains an expensive game and with only 1 win at last years Spanish grand prix plus 3 other podium finishes since 2006 you have to ask, will Williams ever be able to regain a place at the front end of the grid or are we witnessing the long kiss goodnight of another legendary F1 team? How do the team at Grove set about re-building their fortunes or is it already too late?