2022 Williams Racing F1 Team

[cbbcisace]

Nice new partnership for Williams

[organic]

Apparently Williams used one of their curfew exemptions

[fritticaldi]

Bang & Olufsen hasnt been in F1 since early 70s when they sponsored John Surtees team.

[AeroDynamic]

Alex will dominate Latifi

did I see almost 1 second difference between them in qualifying today?

[PlatinumZealot]

How are the upgrades looking?

[F1doc]

How are the upgrades looking?

The overall package looks bad. Upgrades won't do all that much if they cannot maximise what they already have, and constantly have to replace crash damaged parts every race.

[McMika98]

Dont understand why they have not used the hole in sidepod, have they been told not to do so by FIA. Kinda wrecks the aero philosophy, the front wing is so basic. The car is a mess.

[Mr Brooksy]

Nice to pick up a point in Australia. Seems like the car really likes the harder compounds...

[Big Tea]

Nice to pick up a point in Australia. Seems like the car really likes the harder compounds...

I think that was 100% dumb luck, but they were quick to capitalise on it, and they all count for exactly the same.

Getting a point this early takes a lot of weight off shoulders for the rest of the season too. More room to go risky now next years travel is assured.

[continuum16]

It’s three races in, and I still can’t tell if the FW44 is clearly the worst car (vs the Aston, at least) or if it is actually capable of being an occasional Q2 contender, but the team are just struggling to optimize the setup. Even in Australia, Albon said after the race that they more or less expected to be last, but ended up P10. Obviously strategy played a big part but the car was only a couple tenths off of McLaren in the second half of the race, which offers some hope.

I get the feeling that the team doesn’t really understand why they were so comparatively fast in the race, which is worrying, but as others have acknowledged it’s nice to have a point in the pocket because Aston doesn’t look like they’ll be able to get them soon either.

I’m not writing off the season completely but I hope the FW45 will be completely different in philosophy, because the short sloped sidepods that the team has had for the past few years doesn’t seem to be the best way forward (judging by the 2019/20/21/22 performance and WCC). This car was probably too developed for Demaison & Co. to make an impact on the design, so the next car will be the real litmus test.

[Big Tea]

It’s three races in, and I still can’t tell if the FW44 is clearly the worst car (vs the Aston, at least) or if it is actually capable of being an occasional Q2 contender, but the team are just struggling to optimize the setup. Even in Australia, Albon said after the race that they more or less expected to be last, but ended up P10. Obviously strategy played a big part but the car was only a couple tenths off of McLaren in the second half of the race, which offers some hope.

I get the feeling that the team doesn’t really understand why they were so comparatively fast in the race, which is worrying, but as others have acknowledged it’s nice to have a point in the pocket because Aston doesn’t look like they’ll be able to get them soon either.

I’m not writing off the season completely but I hope the FW45 will be completely different in philosophy, because the short sloped sidepods that the team has had for the past few years doesn’t seem to be the best way forward (judging by the 2019/20/21/22 performance and WCC). This car was probably too developed for Demaison & Co. to make an impact on the design, so the next car will be the real litmus test.

Slightly off topic as it is not car specific, but cars to the back of the field suffer more from blue flags than they do from lack of a competitive car. One of the reasons Albon held station with the front/midfield is that he did not have to jump out of the way for them. Other than that, I think it was a combination of luck they got Albon into a position he did not immediately have to give up, and a combination of being on the right tyre and a track that suited the car. Plus of course them being smart enough to remember the race ends when the leader crosses the line.

[search]

Latifi really seems to struggle a lot this season. I expected him to wake up in the rain (as he did some good sessions last year), but yesterday was even worse than in the dry, constantly lapping 1-2s slower than Albon.

[trinidefender]

Differences between the driving styles of Albion and Russel.

"Williams says that there have been some notable contrasts in how they work with the team – as well as what they want from a car."

"Head of vehicle performance Dave Robson said: “They are a bit different personality and driving style. I think it probably took us a bit of time over winter testing, in fact probably not even winter testing several races, to understand a bit more about that driving style.

“Alex is quick and his whole attitude and demeanour are very good. I’m very pleased.”

"In terms of driving style, Williams says that the team has had to focus much more on how the car behaves on the entry to the corner – as this is something that is critical for Albon.

“He is a lot more focused on the very initial turn in balance; that means a lot to him,” added Robson. “Once he's got through that initial turn in phase, then he is quite prepared to deal with what the car subsequently does.

“George is perhaps a little bit more tolerant to that initial phase and then more sensitive. It’s just a bit different."

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/will ... s/10264451

[TimW]

[wesley123]

Who is betting on Nyck de Vries replacing replacing Latifi? Nyck is a Mercedes junior afterall and Williams has Jack Aitken as a reserve driver and Logan Sargeant as a test driver, both of them fulfill the criteria for the mandated young driver sessions. Nyck has no business being in the Williams other than to get him ready for the race seat.