Williams appoints Lowe as Chief Technical Officer

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Great news

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There are stories that Williams will go the way of Tyrrell. Well, over my dead body. No way. That's not going to happen. My dream is to make this a world championship-winning team again. Claire Williams

That's all we were waiting for.Nice job Claire, she is impressing with her ability to bring good deals to our team.Now let's see what happens with James Key.

Maybe Key was waiting for confirmation of Paddy?

This is good news. We are looking serious again.

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Ozzy Osbone
Maybe Key was waiting for confirmation of Paddy?
This is good news. We are looking serious again.

If I remember correctly James Key contract with TR will end at the beginning of summer.
Will see if he has a gardening leave clause!

Ahh! Finally. That was dragging. Great- gas on the pedal. Lets develop this FW40!

The FW41 with non rookie Stroll will be a blast. Im over the moon with this news. And lets not underestimate that Williams has done a lot in refreshing the aero group of employees. That we have had the same problems as Ferrari with windtunnel data analysing and the data being off as the track data was somewhat different.
We have had those problems and they were fixed. Now we have an immensive CTO, with all due respect for Pat Symonds, one of the highest rated one on the market.
With aero hero de Beer and the fact that we have Mercedes engines, we could well be a solid P3 team in the long run. Because lets be real, before we can grow big again, we need a works engine. Perhaps the Honda one should the rumors be true that Mercedes was asked by McLaren if they are open to delivering engines as of 2018 forward.

Agree with AJ, so who will be the driver to start working with for the future? who will take Massa's place, i would love to have Ricciardo, Hulk or Sainz in FW41

Maybe we pick up Honda when they get it right, leaving Mclaren in 3 years of pain? Or is it 4? Actually, despite me pushing for the Honda deal, I am no longer convinced. There is something rotten at the core. They have to solve that and I guess these rumours are deliberate to make things shift at the top of Honda.

Anyway, Paddy is going to know about all sorts of witchcraft that went on at Merc and that is coming to us. He would not have been left out of ANYTHING.

Great news indeed! Welcome Paddy

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Gwanni
Agree with AJ, so who will be the driver to start working with for the future? who will take Massa's place, i would love to have Ricciardo, Hulk or Sainz in FW41

Sent the message to Carlos !!!

Hip hip hooray!!!

Yeah, Sainz would be fitting. I would like to see that. Would love to see Carlos in a Williams. Perfect. He's probably not going to get the top RBR team seat in 2018 so why not? He's a top 5 driver and we have Paddy............


I like that idea.

Woohoo!! Things are coming together nicely.

No news about Pat Fry so far...

Pat Fry....wasn't he at manor. Is he that good? donno just asking

Honda idea still look good! Their current performance is terrible, right.but they can improve this year and then there are rumors of Sauber switch to them in 2018, the time we can have our first thing by Lowe effect and then 2019 can be a work deal with Honda if they show any signs of improvements.

Worst kept secret but glad he finally here

100% Williams
WILL SUPPORT WILLIAMS AS LONG AS We HAVE A TEAM To Support

If Honda show enough signs of improvement they why would McLaren look for another partner. If they don't improve, then why would anyone trust that they'll turn it around.

I see no sense in speculating about Honda.

I do. Because no matter how you put it, McLaren talking preliminary to other engine manufacturers is simply a matter of depleted trust. Thats something, no matter if the engine starts working during the season, that will haunt the McLaren Honda alliance for the entire duration of their spell together from now on.

Id for one would love to see Woking soaking in their own misery, let them make a move towards Mercedes and lure Honda in. Keep Honda sidelined for a year to make sure their engine will be up to speed when it will be hoisted in our FW42 in 2019. With Paddies experience, the building on a solid FW41 foundation and having Lance ready after two seasons, I could see ourselves being frontrunner in 2019.

Buzzing, more optimistic than I have been for many a season.

Excellent job Claire!

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Francesc
Excellent job Claire!

Two more pieces in the puzzle needs to come: James Key and Carlos Sainz !!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017:03:16:21:43:35 by TerraNova19.

I think @AlanJones might have had a bump on the head.

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TerraNova19

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Francesc
Excellent job Claire!

Two more pieces in the puzzle needs to come: James Key and Carlos Sainz !!!

Peter Windsor thinks the same about Sainz, that Williams needed him this year to push the team forward. A shame that Martini imposes at least 1 driver over 25 years old.

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Francesc

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TerraNova19

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Francesc
Excellent job Claire!

Two more pieces in the puzzle needs to come: James Key and Carlos Sainz !!!

Peter Windsor thinks the same about Sainz, that Williams needed him this year to push the team forward. A shame that Martini imposes at least 1 driver over 25 years old.

"Martini rule" can be bent in my opinion for the right driver!!!

I am more worry that RB wants to keep Carlos (at any cost for them) as backup!
Just in case RIC or VER are getting a huge offer from Ferrari to leave RB(this year or next year).

NICE TO SEE YOU BACK HOME, PADDY !!

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williamsdb.com
I think @AlanJones might have had a bump on the head.

Well I might have. But I still wish Woking all the misery we've had since BMW left. And what better way to do it than to shine with the engines they so desperately wanted to dump.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017:04:17:12:32:58 by redline.

How good is Lowe ??

Great news

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redline

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TerraNova19

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Gwanni
Agree with AJ, so who will be the driver to start working with for the future? who will take Massa's place, i would love to have Ricciardo, Hulk or Sainz in FW41

Sent the message to Carlos !!!

as someone already mentioned RB to hold on to Sainz
so given that bottas is on a one-year deal
with clause may be retained IF results (WCC contribution) are good

so Bottas may be available after Massa's one-year contract

question is will they be interested to have Bottas again?

Williams will be interested for sure! It possible a pre-contract to exist between them.

Still Carlos will be more interesting!!!

Am I the only one who will think Hamilton will drop out at the end of this season?

No, I think so...I have a feeling he is the one who leaves Mercedes sooner, not Bottas.

He's tested Mercedes bosses patience to the limit, whether he was right or wrong, if he keeps moaning about everything like 2016, there is a good chance someone else fill his seat.

Exactly. Hamiltons contract is due to end this season. And I for one cant see him having as much fun as he used to. He also made an exclamation stating "there is more to life for me than F1". He doesnt look like he is fulfilled anymore. So Id reckon he will be out.

I hope he falls hard when he is no longer a racer. What does he become? Eddie irvine?

Would merc take alonso as a number 1? Is it all too late for that? I think you guys might be right. It could be vettel if ferrari are 3rd again this year.

Ricciardo will not go to williams. I honestly believe unless there are strong budget caps enforced, p4 is a championship win for williams. Nobody driving for a top 3 team will go ther unless they are a dejected no. 2. Then williams will not want them, or shouldn't anyway.

Sainz is the man you guys need.

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AlanJones

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williamsdb.com
I think @AlanJones might have had a bump on the head.

Well I might have. But I still wish Woking all the misery we've had since BMW left. And what better way to do it than to shine with the engines they so desperately wanted to dump.

Well on the misery to McLaren we agree - I have long considered them Williams' natural enemy. However, taking a shitty engine from them I'm not in agreement with that at all!

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Duffer
I hope he falls hard when he is no longer a racer. What does he become? Eddie irvine?
Would merc take alonso as a number 1? Is it all too late for that? I think you guys might be right. It could be vettel if ferrari are 3rd again this year.

You do? I hope he gets married to a nice young girl, starts a family and stops all the "celebrity" BS he's currently doing. Not holding out much hope though...

Re: Irvine. Didn't he make a ton of money through real estate investments post-F1?

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Duffer
Ricciardo will not go to williams. I honestly believe unless there are strong budget caps enforced, p4 is a championship win for williams. Nobody driving for a top 3 team will go ther unless they are a dejected no. 2. Then williams will not want them, or shouldn't anyway.
Sainz is the man you guys need.

Sainz is the guy in demand. Renault . . . and especially Prost . . . are pushing for him. But as Carlos himself says, you're only as good as your last race. A resurgent Kvyat might be someone to watch also. These two were very close in their junior careers.

What happens if Lance is a disaster? Smedley says he is going to reserve judgement until half season.

FWIW, Marko doesn't think Bottas is as close to Ham as Rosberg and they will finish 'with a few cars inbetween.'

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Gunk

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Duffer
Ricciardo will not go to williams. I honestly believe unless there are strong budget caps enforced, p4 is a championship win for williams. Nobody driving for a top 3 team will go ther unless they are a dejected no. 2. Then williams will not want them, or shouldn't anyway.
Sainz is the man you guys need.

Sainz is the guy in demand. Renault . . . and especially Prost . . . are pushing for him. But as Carlos himself says, you're only as good as your last race. A resurgent Kvyat might be someone to watch also. These two were very close in their junior careers.

What happens if Lance is a disaster? Smedley says he is going to reserve judgement until half season.

FWIW, Marko doesn't think Bottas is as close to Ham as Rosberg and they will finish 'with a few cars inbetween.'

Marko is playing mind games!!!

If Maca dump Honda at the end of 2017 and Honda are still motivated to do F1 then I would say snap them up, recon half their issues was Ron being a megalomaniac!

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Stu69
If Maca dump Honda at the end of 2017 and Honda are still motivated to do F1 then I would say snap them up, recon half their issues was Ron being a megalomaniac!

Ron was very supportive of Honda. But reading between the lines there are a lot of issues. Starting up from scratch was probably not the best idea. (They should have bought Cosworth or similar.) Being based outside the UK doesn't help, never mind the cultural divide. Even Renault admit this brings logistical problems. And the original nano concept didn't work, which has put them back where they started.

Williams would have to take a couple of years pain at least. That's on top of the 'challenging' year we already face with a depleted driving strength. Sorry, I don't see it.

I agree. Honda would have to make major personnel changes first before they could be considered as a viable part of a championship winning package. You can only make so many mistakes so often before your potential it written off and considered unlikely ever to be fulfilled. Just ask Maldonado. They now represent more of a risk of failure than an opportunity for success.

I know it would be satisfying to see McLaren flounder in the lower midfield with a customer engine, poor budget and mediocre staff as Williams have done. It would be even sweeter for Williams to snap up Honda off McLaren after McLaren has gone through all this development pain and win with them in a magnificent retribution and act of karma after precisely the reverse happened in the 1980's, but I think it's unlikely Honda will find a silver bullet after 26 years being a nonentity. It's low percentage stuff.


It's not the easiest path to walk, but right now, Williams' most likely path to success is to do a Brawn or RedBull, and win as a customer team by doing a better job than the manufacturer / works team. RedBull have Newey, Brawn had...Brawn, Williams have Lowe. and Mercedes don't. If Williams can take on the top teams, top drivers will come calling, and prize money and sponsorship will increase, enabling Lowe to eventually mount a championship challenge. If Brawn can do something about balancing revenue for the teams, then Williams really wont need to risk strapping a lame engine in the back in a few years time in order to be able to mount a challenge.

I think Honda will come good this season. Sure it's a poor test but they are allowed to fix it throughout the season now. They may not match other teams for power initially, but they will get it right, so maybe, next year would be a good time to be getting a Honda engine and maybe some cash input, if Mc decide to break ties.

Did you notice that McLaren have just signed Hakkinen as an ambassador?

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Pitpass
McLaren has announced that two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen will take up the position of Partner Ambassador with immediate effect, in a multi-year deal.

It's my guess he will replace Alonso after the DNF in Oz. After all, anyone can drive 11 laps slowly. But McLaren can still claim the same contractual fee from Honda for employing a World Champion. Cool.

I think Eddie Irvine has fallen upwards and has made a good go of life. Certainly no failure. Almost lucked in the World Championship which he would not have deserved. I like the bloke myself.

HAM will not leave F1 yet. No way. He wants more titles for sure.

:-)

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Ozzy Osbone
I think Eddie Irvine has fallen upwards and has made a good go of life. Certainly no failure. Almost lucked in the World Championship which he would not have deserved. I like the bloke myself.

Eddie Irvine was seriously funny. Shocked America when it was discovered he was Ford's highest paid employee. (Eddie Who?) Got up Lauda's nose. Arrested for driving a scooter through Hyde Park without insurance. Famously punched Senna once. Occasionally reported for punching other people in pubs, but never as a GP legend.

English press often portrays him as a kind of George Best/Alex Higgins type, but nothing could be further from the truth. Very shrewd businessman and probably in the top 5 of ex-F1 drivers net worth.

[twitter.com]

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Gunk

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Stu69
If Maca dump Honda at the end of 2017 and Honda are still motivated to do F1 then I would say snap them up, recon half their issues was Ron being a megalomaniac!

Ron was very supportive of Honda. But reading between the lines there are a lot of issues. Starting up from scratch was probably not the best idea. (They should have bought Cosworth or similar.) Being based outside the UK doesn't help, never mind the cultural divide. Even Renault admit this brings logistical problems. And the original nano concept didn't work, which has put them back where they started.

Williams would have to take a couple of years pain at least. That's on top of the 'challenging' year we already face with a depleted driving strength. Sorry, I don't see it.

But don't you think most of Hondas troubles in the first few years were to do with being set an impossible design brief by Ron?? Totally overly ambitious in terms of packaging. If they had been more conservative the result would have been better immediately, they could then used this solid platform to build a more aggressive position. A big strategic error from Maca , Ron and Honda. They under estimated the design brief.

So we are told the new engine is more "normal" in terms of design. But they ran out of time. This year they are doing what they should have done in the first year. Later this year or even next year the Honda will be more right than wrong. IMO. Perfect for another to pick up on the pain endured by Maca.

I'd like to hear Gunks views. but if all this was Ron's fault (a theory I love BTW) then it's a pretty big coincidence that they messed up that engine, and failed to produce a new engine that worked in time for testing- provoking the ire of McLaren. If they didn't have enough time to switch, they should have known and said something. Clearly, Honda have caught themselves out. I think the reason that design didn't work wasn't because of impossible design parameters but because Honda - currently- aren't very good at doing F1 engines compared to the other three Engine manufacturers. They had a distinctly mediocre engine in the 2000's, and since then, they have just fallen further behind in terms of expertise, R&D and general competence at the highest level.

I just don't see why such a consistently mediocre job year on year engenders such blind faith that they will become competitive. It would be very convenient for Williams to secure a competitive engine and manufacturer funding, but it's wishful thinking on both scores.

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crusty_bread
I'd like to hear Gunks views. but if all this was Ron's fault (a theory I love BTW) then it's a pretty big coincidence that they messed up that engine, and failed to produce a new engine that worked in time for testing.
I just don't see why such a consistently mediocre job year on year engenders such blind faith that they will become competitive.

You read so many accounts, who knows.

Perhaps the word 'mediocre' is a little strong. The fact is, Mercedes and Ferrari keep raising the bar. Honda may meet their target, but it's out of date by the time it's executed. This is I believe what happened to the nano concept. It couldn't develop enough to deliver the power that Mercedes were finding.

I read today that Merc and their customers will have the latest spec PU in Australia. Again, more power than even in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago. Without rubbishing Honda, I do think they'll be playing eternal catch up. Ferrari has been finding new materials, piston designs, injection techniques . . . it is rocket science. They're just so far behind the learning curve.

It's fundamentally why I disagree with Alan Jones. I think unfreezing engine development only puts Honda further behind. The vibration problem Honda experienced in testing sounded rather like the issues Renault were experiencing two years ago. Something about harmonic resonances. Honda will sort it, but by this time Renault will have moved on again. One imagines that only the new regulations will level the playing field.

In Renault's darkest hour, RBR brought in Mario Ilien and he was working in parallel with Renault Sport. I now learn that Zak Brown is a director of Cosworth. Seems like an option to me.

[mobile.twitter.com]

Paddy looks pretty good in Williams-Martini jacket :

Now that's uplifting. Gives a feeling of progress.

You can only get over your fears if you attack them head on - Mika Hakkinen

It sure does.

Onwards and upwards we hope.

he looks happy so far

He looks like a man that does not like to hang about and put off tomorrow what he can do today.

I expect to see quick changes to the car and team.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2017:03:23:09:07:02 by gpl.

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gpl
He looks like a man that does not like to hang about and put off tomorrow what he can do today.
I expect to see quick changes to the car and team.

To be honest... the corporate standard of Mercedes did not suit HIM in any say.

Williams offers more friendly and home feeling.. that's how I feel.

But more than quick changes to the car, I am welcoming the correct evolutuon steps with upgrades. That's where his input should be most apparent.

That's the look of a man eyeing a "nice toosh".

"When you talk, you are repeating what you already know. But if you listen, you may learn something new." - Dalai Lama

Looks like he should ride horses for a living.

Lowe = Gollum

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gpl
He looks like a man that does not like to hang about and put off tomorrow what he can do today.
I expect to see quick changes to the car and team.

you can tell all that from a smile?

Yep.

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gpl
Yep.

lol that's reassuring GPL

for sure haha.

Lowe = Gollum

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Whitey-67
Lowe = Gollum

this was originally a tier 3 post, but as with any joke, gets worse with repetition, making it a tier 6 post now by my count.

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andy si

Williams offers more friendly and home feeling.. that's how I feel.

Of course. They have Paddy, Daddy, Mummy, Grumpy Grandpa . . . and Uncle Rob to look after Baby Felipe.

Who needs tech staff with an organisation like that.

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Gunk

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andy si

Williams offers more friendly and home feeling.. that's how I feel.

Of course. They have Paddy, Daddy, Mummy, Grumpy Grandpa . . . and Uncle Rob to look after Baby Felipe.

Who needs tech staff with an organisation like that.

I'm crying my eyes out

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crusty_bread

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Whitey-67
Lowe = Gollum

this was originally a tier 3 post, but as with any joke, gets worse with repetition, making it a tier 6 post now by my count.

Seven by your repetition.

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crusty_bread

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Whitey-67
Lowe = Gollum

this was originally a tier 3 post, but as with any joke, gets worse with repetition, making it a tier 6 post now by my count.

Crusty you are becoming a little bit too stalky for my liking, stop with the stalking please

Shut up whitey