Williams Martini Racing 2015

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Valtteri Bottas Q&A: Williams can profit from Hungarian heat
HUNGARY VALTTERI BOTTAS WILLIAMS
24 Jul 2015

Having slumped to a season-worst performance in Monaco, many were expecting Williams to struggle at the similarly tight and twisty Hungaroring. But after a typically low key Friday - in which he placed ninth in both practice sessions - Valtteri Bottas is quietly confident about his chances in Budapest - especially if the mercury continues to rise…


As a team we should focus on qualifying. Starting position has a big effect here as it is very difficult to overtake.
Valtteri Bottas
Q: Valtteri, how has your week been so far?
Valtteri Bottas: Tough, obviously, like for everybody who knew Jules (Bianchi). He was my team mate in F3 so I knew him pretty well. In such a situation lap times lose much of their importance. But life goes on as well and for me right now the best place to be is in the car with my helmet on because then I have no other thoughts other than driving.

Q: What do expect from this weekend? Budapest is not the sort of track that Williams usually excel at...
VB: True, in theory this is not the best track for us. But it is too early to say anything definite. Friday’s running is never that significant. The best is to look back at 2014: I qualified third and was running really well at the beginning of the race… It is still possible to have a good result here and as a team we should focus on the qualifying performance. Starting position has a big effect here as it is very difficult to overtake. The weekend could be slightly more challenging, but there is also a good chance of a good result!

Q: But if you compare this track to any other on the calendar, Monaco springs to mind - and there Williams suffered quite a lot. Have you learnt any lessons from the Monaco race for here?
VB: Yes, we have analysed very well what happened to us in Monaco - so we will not repeat the same mistakes here. We have made some really good steps since Monaco, so I am not worried at all that it is going to be that bad. In fact I am pretty hopeful for the weekend.


If we were to choose either a hot or cold race we always would go for a hot race
Valtteri Bottas
Q: Will the hot conditions help?
VB: Maybe. I think that if we were to choose either a hot or cold race we always would go for a hot race. The efficiency of the cooling of the car and getting the tyres to work is better in hot conditions.

Q: Could it hurt Mercedes if it is hot? Thinking back to Malaysia…
VB: I have no idea what they done in between - you have to ask them.

Q: Coming back to Silverstone. You could have won the race and afterwards were slightly critical of the team and the way you weren’t allowed to attack Felipe (Massa) straight away…
VB: I think I had the opportunity at the beginning when I was not allowed to overtake. Especially in the first stint my pace was really better, as we saw on Felipe’s in-lap when I gained almost one second. But the team thought that it was the best thing to do at that time to freeze the situation and for us not to battle for positions and lose time against Mercedes. Timing is sometimes critical for these things and when I got the call to race again I didn’t have the advantage any more. I simply missed the opportunity. Then it started to rain and I really struggled to get the tyres up to temperature - that was it for me. ‘Should have’, ‘could have’ - that doesn’t make a difference afterwards. Let’s put it this way: it was a weekend where we as a team again learned a lot! We will be cleverer now in the future.

Q: Were there serious discussions after Silverstone?
VB: We learned a lot - let’s put it that way. We definitely will be better next time.

Q: What about your future. Can you tell us anything new in that regard?
VB: No, nothing new to add to that discussion! There are lot of rumours…

Q: We’ve all had a chance for a first view of the 2016 calendar and it has 21 races on it. What do you make of that?
VB: For me that is fine - I love to race. But it will be tough for the teams. And it will be a bit tricky to only have eight test days before the season starts to head into such a long and demanding season.

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Re: Williams Martini Racing 2015

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HUNGARIAN GP QUALIFYING

25 JUL 2015
Hungaroring, Budapest
4.381kms / 2.722 miles

Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri qualified sixth and Felipe eighth for tomorrow’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
• Both cars carried two sets of new option tyres into the final session giving them the best opportunity to extract maximum performance from today in an extremely hot session.

Temperature Air: 32 - 33°C Track: 50 - 55°C

Q1
V. Bottas: 1:23.649 (6th)
F. Massa: 1:23.895 (8th)
Quickest Time, L. Hamilton 1:22.890

Q2
V. Bottas: 1:23.555 (6th)
F. Massa: 1:23.598 (8th)
Quickest Time, L. Hamilton 1:22.285

Q3
V. Bottas: 1:23.222 (6th)
F. Massa: 1:23.527 (8th)
Quickest time, L. Hamilton: 1:22.020

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: The drivers extracted all the performance possible from the car, it just wasn’t enough for the second row. It’s not a circuit that suits us as much as other tracks do, but the race is long tomorrow and will be tough for everyone. We will see how the temperature change affects the performance, the slightly cooler temperatures should help us. We are aiming to get as many points on offer and to move forward, always keeping the podium as our target.

Valtteri Bottas: As expected it was a really close qualifying and we were just a few tenths slower than we wanted to be. I got everything I could of from the car so I am pleased with my performance. Tomorrow is the points day, and we have a bit of work to do, but we will fight to the end.

Felipe Massa: I am content, I would like to have been further up the grid, but I just didn’t deliver a clean lap. I will focus on making the most of the tyres tomorrow and hope we can have a better car in the race than qualifying. The lower temperature expected tomorrow could also play into our hands. I have a lot to do and let’s hope we both get starts similar to Silverstone.

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Re: Williams Martini Racing 2015

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Susie Wolff joins Valtteri Bottas for a hot lap


tomazy
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Re: Williams Martini Racing 2015

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Ben Sanger-Davies ‏@bensd00
Flew over @WilliamsRacing on Sunday. Looked very quite! Hope you'll work hard today!

Image

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BELGIAN GP PRACTICE

21 AUG 2015
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
7.004kms / 4.352 miles

FP1
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 17 - 21°C / 21 - 29°C
V. Bottas, FW37-04, PU106B Hybrid 1:52.511 (10th)
F. Massa, FW37-02, PU106B Hybrid 1:52.653 (14th)
Quickest Time: N. Rosberg, 1:51.082

FP2
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 22 - 24°C / 36 - 40°C
V. Bottas, FW37-04, PU106B Hybrid 1:51.250 (14th)
F. Massa, FW37-02, PU106B Hybrid 1:51.588 (16th)
Quickest Time: N. Rosberg, 1:49.385


Objectives: aero evaluations, set-up and tyre work.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We have had a decent Friday. We had set ourselves an ambitious programme to complete and although the red flags hampered this slightly we are very well prepared for the weekend. We focused on rear and front wing development during the morning and this afternoon was all about tyres. We still have a bit of time to find on the low fuel, but we know where to find this. On the higher fuel loads we look quite competitive. There are lots of small areas where we can find performance, so everyone needs to ensure that they have done their job to be ready for FP3.

Valtteri Bottas: It was nice to be back in the car after the break. Today our main focus was on aero testing, including the rear wing configuration and we also looked at the tyres as you would expect from a Friday. We collected plenty of data throughout the day so we know that today’s times are not too representative, and we will continue to strengthen our performance throughout the weekend.

Felipe Massa: It was a typical Friday for Williams, we don’t go out trying to top the time sheets. We completed a lot of the work we had set ourselves, only held back by the red flags which were unexpected. This has meant my long run pace isn’t as clear as I would have hoped, but we should be able to be competitive tomorrow and build as the weekend progresses.

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Re: Williams Martini Racing 2015

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BELGIAN GP QUALIFYING

22 AUG 2015
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
7.004kms / 4.352 miles

Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri qualified third and Felipe seventh for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix.
• After making it through the first two sessions comfortably, Q3 ended with just 0.148s covering third to seventh.
• A mistake on the final corner cost Felipe time on his final lap.

Weather: Warm and Dry
Temperature Air: 22 - 24°C Track: 38 - 40°C

Q1
V. Bottas: 1:49.026 (4th)
F. Massa: 1:49.688 (14th)
Quickest Time, L. Hamilton 1:48.908

Q2
V. Bottas: 1:49.044 (9th)
F. Massa: 1:48.806 (5th)
Quickest Time, N. Rosberg 1:47.955

Q3
V. Bottas: 1:48.537 (3rd)
F. Massa: 1:48.685 (7th)
Quickest time, L. Hamilton: 1:47.197

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: We chipped away at the session and came to the fore when it really mattered. It wasn’t the cleanest session for Felipe as we had to re-programme the car at the start of Q1 which delayed him getting on track, but he recovered well. Valtteri drove a very strong lap to get himself into third. Looking at our championship rivals we have had a great qualifying. Both drivers have done really well, we now need to convert this into some good points tomorrow.

Valtteri Bottas: I am very pleased with the result and it’s good to be back in the top three. The team did everything right, it was up to me to put it all together. Behind me it was very tight so to be on top of that pack is great. P3 is a good place to start tomorrow, the race pace looks on par with quite a few of the teams around us, so it will be a fight, but one I am really looking forward to.

Felipe Massa: I lost a bit of time in the final sector and looking at the result it cost me a few positions, it was that close. It is frustrating but it is a long race and the circuit can hold so many surprises, one being the weather! We need to make sure we have a good start and gain as many positions as possible and then continue to build from there.

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BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

23 AUG 2015
Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
7.004kms / 4.352 miles

Race Notes:
• Felipe Massa finished sixth and Valtteri Bottas ninth in the Belgian Grand Prix
• Both cars struggled at the start and lost positions during a difficult first stint.
• An error at the first round of pitstops for Valtteri resulted in him being awarded a drive-through penalty and the rest of the race was damage limitation, so a good result to get back into the points.
• Felipe struggled for pace in the first stint but after the pitstops battled hard to finish sixth.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: I am clearly disappointed with what has happened to Valtteri. As a team we have made a mistake, and on behalf of the team I am very sorry that we cost him what could have been a podium position. There will be an investigation into the processes in place to understand what happened fully, and to put in place a procedure to stop this happening again. The rest of our race was dictated by the lack of pace in the first stint and from then on we had to fight our way back. The big difference at this race was that there were five teams all with very similar race pace. Unfortunately though, because so many cars were close in performance, the result was dictated primarily by what happened in the first stint when we were struggling. After that we had the pace on the prime tyre and as a result still managed to finish with both cars in the points. We have gained on Ferrari and lost very few points to Red Bull which is positive considering the day we have had.

Felipe Massa: It was a frustrating day for me. I struggled at the start and then the soft tyre in the first stint didn't operate as well as it should have done so I lost a few positions. At this point we were fighting from behind but the medium worked well. I couldn't overtake the Force India of Perez at the end as their straightline pace was good. It has been a difficult day but to still finish sixth is the main positive we will take away from the weekend.

Valtteri Bottas: We haven't got the result we were after today. The pitstop and the race pace are two areas that we need to investigate. We thought we would be stronger during the race but the soft tyre in the first stint didn't work as well and put us in a difficult position. We have to make sure we bounce back well in Monza.

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Found it on the net (Gunk (IP Logged)):

WILLIAMS Grand Prix Engineering
are looking for a
TYRE PICKER M/F

Duties include: Taking used tyres off, putting new tyres on.

Preference will be given to candidates who are colourblind and can't work under stress.

Minimum wage with generous tea-bag allowance.

Please apply in writing or, if you can't read or write, call R. Smedley today!

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Does anyone know what happened at Williams? Were the tyres mixed up on the rack or whatever place they are stored being ready for the pit or rather one of the men supposed to pick the tyres picked it from the wrong place? Who was that other bloke carrying fifth tyre during the pit stop? I think he was carrying the correct right back tyre. Why nobody reacted to this? That was really strange to me.

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We didn't want to sell Valtteri Bottas to Ferrari - Claire Williams

Christopher Lee/Getty Images
Laurence Edmondson, F1 Editor

Williams says it was not interested in selling Valtteri Bottas to Ferrari for 2016, but revealed negotiations about the driver's future took place with Maranello.

Bottas was linked to Kimi Raikkonen's seat over the summer, with rumours suggesting Ferrari would pay a football-style transfer fee to buy Bottas out of his contract option at Williams. However, with Bottas staying at Williams next year and Raikkonen remaining at Ferrari, deputy team principal Claire Williams said she had achieved the result she wanted.

"I think there has been no secret of the fact that Ferrari has been looking at Valtteri, but fortunately we were able to keep him here," she said. "That is the best outcome for us."

Asked if she had been interested in selling Bottas to Ferrari, she added: "Not really, no. I don't think you can put a price tag on someone like Valtteri. Valtteri is such an integral part of the transformation because he has been with us for six years. Everyone knows the talent that he has, not only from a pure driving perspective, he brings the whole package.

"We have been going out and talking to shareholders and partners and telling them that Valtteri is a part of our long-term plan, so to go back to them and change that because he is no longer a part of it, you can't really quantify that in terms of money that you can potentially get back for him."

Williams said she had not approached any drivers other than Bottas and Felipe Massa for 2016.

"We hadn't [considered other options]. We really wanted to keep Valtteri and Felipe for next year. It was a straightforward and easy decision. They are, and have been, part of our long-term transformation plan, so for us to make this announcement today leaves us really pleased because it gives us that stability moving forward. Everyone knows the talent we have in our driver line-up, so we are thrilled."

Bottas said Williams had been the best option available to him for 2016.

"At least there is no more speculation," Bottas said. "The team and I can focus on the job and delivering the results and making the car quicker. Even though you don't think about it that much, when it's all confirmed and the name is on the paper you can focus on getting the maximum out of this year and the development of next year's car. We can share all the information without any doubts.

"I think for me it's the best place to be at this point. Obviously not many seats are available anyway and for me it is natural to stay with the team. Continuity is good for the team and having the same team-mate in Felipe. We already have a good base and we can start working for even better results."

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ITALIAN GP PRACTICE

04 SEP 2015
Monza, Italy
5.7934kms / 3.599 miles

FP1
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 19 - 22°C / 22 - 29°C
V Bottas, FW37-04, PU106B Hybrid 1:27.075 (9th)
F. Massa, FW37-02, PU106B Hybrid 1:26.936 (8th)
Quickest Time: L. Hamilton, 1:24.670

FP2
Weather: Warm and Dry
Air & Track Temperatures: 24 - 25°C / 32 - 36°C
V Bottas, FW37-04, PU106B Hybrid 1:25.674 (9th)
F. Massa, FW37-02, PU106B Hybrid 1:27.075 (10th)
Quickest Time: L. Hamilton, 1:24.279


Objectives: aero evaluations, set-up and tyre work.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: Today we focused on testing our specific Monza package which all seems to be working very well. We've had quite a substantial programme to get through in terms of performance and car specification, so it’s been busy. We've tested a myriad of mechanical components, new transmission developments, new suspension developments, plus other developments which we're putting in the pipeline for the future which the team have put a lot of effort in to. The long runs were good and on low fuel we looked quite reasonable for where we usually are on a Friday. Both drivers are reporting that the balance of the cars is good so I think we're in a positive position for the weekend.

Valtteri Bottas: It was a good Friday. Thankfully it stayed dry and we got through the whole plan without any issues. We were doing a lot of set-up work with the car, trying different aero, mechanical and suspension settings. Now we've tried a lot of different things with both cars so we have plenty of information for tomorrow to choose all the best combinations so I'm looking forward to the outcome because I think we can be competitive.

Felipe Massa: We had a positive session and I am happy with the balance and feeling of the car which is a good start to the weekend. We have to now have a look at the data and compare this to where we think our competitors are over the short and longer runs. At a first glance the car looks competitive, we just need to make sure we are ready for tomorrow.

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WILLIAMS REVEALS FINANCIAL RESULTS OVER FIRST HALF OF 2015
Published on 04 Sep 2015 10:48

Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC today announced its interim results for the six months to 30 June 2015. WGPH is the holding company of the Williams Group of companies, which includes Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited.


Overall Group revenue for the period was £63.2m (2014: £44.1m), with EBITDA of (£1.4m) (2014: (£19.6m)). The Group’s operating free cash flow saw a strong increase compared to 2014 of £7.0m (2014: (£18.7m)).


The Formula One division has reported revenues of £51.8m (2014: £34.6m), with an EBITDA of (£2.5m) (2014: (£19.8m)). Williams Advanced Engineering, the division that commercialises Formula One derived technology and know-how, generated revenues of £10.9m (2014: £7.8m) with an EBITDA of £1.0m (2014: £0.8m).


Mike O'Driscoll, Group Chief Executive Officer, said; "Our first half results represent a significant improvement over the same period in 2014, with strong revenue growth and positive cash flow. We made a small EBITDA loss through the first half of the year, which was in line with our expectations."


"Mid-way through 2013 we set out on an ambitious turnaround strategy to reinvigorate the Formula One team, create a strong and profitable Advanced Engineering business, and divest non-core activities. In 2014 we made excellent progress against those objectives, with a third place finish in the Formula One Constructors Championship, and an expansion of our Advanced Engineering division. This progress has been sustained into 2015."


"The improved performance of our Formula One team on the track is now reflected in both higher commercial rights income and increased sponsorship revenue, bolstering our financial results. We will prioritise technological innovation, but simultaneously continue to balance our investment, with strong controls, during a time of rising costs for all Constructors."


"Williams Advanced Engineering has demonstrated continued progress, with revenue and EBITDA increasing, albeit modestly. We anticipate that this trend will continue, while we build up our capabilities in new sectors, primarily aerospace and defence. The announcement of a recent multi-year contract with global defence contractor General Dynamics is evidence of the progress we are making in this division."


"Overall, these interim results are encouraging, and represent very good progress. However, we face continued cost pressures due to the spending levels of our major Formula One competitors, and this challenging environment will undoubtedly continue in the near term. We remain determined to build the necessary foundations for future sporting and commercial success, both on and off the track."

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