F1 Madness

Tag: williams f1

  • Massa and Bottas to Stay on at Williams Till 2016

    Massa and Bottas to Stay on at Williams Till 2016

    The Williams F1 Team have confirmed that both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas will remain at the team till the end of 2016.

    The announcement was made on twitter by both the drivers in a video.

    Earlier in the year, Valtteri Bottas was linked with a move to Ferrari if Kimi Raikkonen’s contract was not renewed. In a very early move, Ferrari announced that Kimi Raikkonen will stay on at Ferrari for another year. This effectively closed the door on Bottas’ move to the Maranello based team.

    Massa was expected to remain at the Grove based team for another year but Bottas’ future was up in the air for a short while until today.

    Speaking after the announcement, Massa had this to say: “I am very happy to be a part of the Williams family. I am in my second year here and am so pleased to be staying as we are working very well together as a team.

    “They respect me a lot and the results are there, and it has been so nice to be part of the big turnaround the team has seen since the end of 2013.”

    “I can’t wait to carry on and continue pushing even more for the team, and for myself.”

    “Thank you to Frank, Claire, Mike, Pat and the whole Williams team for their ongoing support and belief in me, as we build on what is already a great relationship.”

    “I am really pleased to be staying with the team for a fourth F1 race season,” said Bottas.

    “We have been getting stronger as a team and I look forward to what next year will bring, as I believe we can achieve even stronger results than what we have seen so far.

    “I can’t wait for 2016, however I am still fully focused on this season as we still have plenty of challenges to achieve.

    ” I must thank Frank, Claire, Mike, the Board, and everyone at Williams for their continued trust in me.”

     

     

     

     

    Photo Credit: Williams Martini Racing Formula One Team

  • Williams Lack of Pace Monaco Specific

    Williams Lack of Pace Monaco Specific

    The Williams F1 team say that their lack of pace at the Monaco circuit is specific to the nature of the track and they are almost certain that it will not affect them at other circuits.

    The 2015 Williams FW37, much like the 2014 car, suits tracks with long straights and fast corners. The Monaco circuit is the complete opposite to that which is why Williams have struggled for pace the entire weekend. Both Williams drivers also found it difficult to get temperature in the tyres which resulted in a lack of grip.

    Valtteri Bottas was eliminated at the end of Q1 after qualifying in 17th. He blamed the lack of grip and traffic but he also admitted that the Monaco circuit does not suit the Williams.

    “I had some traffic on my initial option run and couldn’t go at the sort of pace needed to keep the tyre temperatures correct, and on my timed lap I just lacked overall grip throughout the lap,” said Bottas after qualifying.

    “We knew this track was not going to suit our car and we’ve been struggling to get the tyres to work throughout the weekend.”

    Felipe Massa echoed Bottas’ sentiments: “There were no major issues during qualifying that caused us to be out of position; Monaco just isn’t a circuit that suits the characteristics of our car,” said Massa.

    “We struggled throughout the day and found it hard to set the lap times we wanted.”

    Head of Performance Engineering at Williams Rob Smedley called it a tough qualifying session for the team. He says that they’ve made changes to the setup to get more heat into the tyres but it was not enough.

    “It was clearly a tough qualifying session for us and we are out of our usual position,” commented Smedley

    “We have been pouring through the data all week to try and find ways to improve our pace here, and whilst we have made some in-roads, qualifying has just come too soon for us to recover everything.

     

    Photo credit: Williams Martini Racing Formula 1 Team 

  • Sutil Lands Reserve Driver Role at Williams for 2015

    Sutil Lands Reserve Driver Role at Williams for 2015

    The Williams Formula 1 Team have announced German Driver Adrian Sutil as their reserve driver for the 2015 season.

    The appointment comes after it was discovered at the Australian Grand Prix that Williams do not have a reserve driver. This came about after Valtteri Bottas suffered from a lower back injury during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. Williams said that they were working on a plan to appoint a reserve driver if Bottas was unable to race in Malaysia.

    Sutil is no stranger to F1. He started his career at Spyker in 2007 which became Force India. He raced at Force India from 2008 to 2011. He returned to F1 in 2013 to drive for Force India again and switched to Sauber in 2014. He was left without a drive for 2015 after Sauber announced Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson would drive for them in 2015.

    “I’m delighted to have Adrian join our stable of drivers for the 2015 season,” said team founder and Team Principal Sir Frank Williams.

    “Adrian brings extensive racing experience, having competed 128 Formula One races during his career. Having most recently raced during the 2014 season also gives him excellent knowledge of the current generation of race car and new Hybrid power units, which is invaluable for anyone needing to step into the cockpit in 2015,” he added.

    “The fight for a top Constructors’ Championship position will be intense this season, therefore we have selected a driver with recent race experience and are confident that if the need arose, he would be a solid pair of hands to race the FW37 and assist our 2015 campaign.”

    Adrian Sutil said: “I’m very proud to be a part of such a famous and great F1 team. To work for Sir Frank Williams and his team means a lot to me. I would like to thank everyone at Williams for their belief in my qualities and the opportunity to work with such a successful and competitive outfit.”

  • Bottas fastest in damp final practice

    Bottas fastest in damp final practice

    Williams driver, Valterri Bottas, topped the timesheets after the third and final practice session at Spa Francorchamps, ahead of qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. Bottas set a time of 1:49.465 to finish the session 0.268s clear of Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo.

    Drivers were greeted by damp conditions today with overnight rain, and rain expected for qualifying later this afternoon. Most drivers used intermediate tyres for their installation laps with some opting for full wets.

    Andre Lotterer was the first driver to set a time before sliding wide at La Source. Jules Bianchi soon beat his time and remained fastest for the first half of the session as most drivers chose to stay in their garages.

    eau-rouge-mclarenThe track dried considerably halfway through and the track was once again abuzz with action.  Esteban Gutierrez broke the silence and ventured out Primes, lowering Bianchi’s benchmark by a second.

    Inevtiably, the Mercedes drivers made their way to the top of the timesheets with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg switching at the top for a short while. At one stage, Hamilton snatched the fastest time off his team mate by a crazy one thousandth of a second! It is times like these that really make Formula One.

    After switching to soft tyres for qualifying simulations, the Mercedes drivers found themselves getting knocked off the top spots.

    It was Bottas who finished in front, with Ricciardo second and Nico Rosberg third, ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton, who set identical lap times during a frantic end to the session.

    Alonso finished in sixth, with Daniil Kvyat, Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and Jean-Eric Vergne rounding out the top 10. Full timesheet for the session below.

    We’ll be back for qualifying shortly! Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live tweets and chat throughout. Rain is expected so we’re expecting a cracker of a session.

    Photo Credits: Williams and Mclaren F1 teams

    FP3 Timesheet

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  • Williams Announce Massa for 2014

    Williams Announce Massa for 2014

    The Williams F1 team announced on Monday that it will sign Felipe Massa for the 2014 Formula 1 season.

    Massa will drive alongside Valtteri Bottas at the Grove based team for 2014.

    “We are delighted to be able to confirm our 2014 driver line-up and welcome Felipe into the Williams family. He is an exceptional talent and a real fighter on the race track; he also brings a wealth of experience as we begin a new chapter in our story.” Said Sir Frank Williams about Massa.

    Massa joins Williams on a multi-year deal and with the new regulations coming in from next season, they will look to Massa for his experience and hope that he will bring in the points and return Williams to the front of the grid.

    “Williams is one of the most successful and important teams of all time in Formula One. When I was a kid, I always dreamed about racing for Williams, Ferrari or McLaren and I’m glad to be signing with another icon of the sport following my time at Ferrari. It is also nice to remember that some of the best Brazilian drivers raced for Williams and cemented a strong national link with the team. With such a major change of regulations in 2014, I hope my experience will be useful in helping the team in its effort to move on from a difficult period.” Said Massa.

    With Massa being announced, there is a good chance that his race engineer, Rob Smedley, will move with him to Williams.

    Bottas on the other hand has been quite impressive this season, performing rather well in very tough conditions. “Valtteri is a valued member of the team and I’m pleased he was able to demonstrate his talent in tricky conditions in Montréal. There is much more to come from him.” said Sir Frank Williams

    Deputy Team Principal, Claire Williams was full of praise for their rookie driver: “Valtteri is an exciting, young talent who has done a solid job for us in his rookie season and we are looking forward to giving him the equipment he deserves to show just how good he is.”

    This was a very good move from Sir Frank, opting to go with experience right before a major regulation change. It could work out very nicely for Williams.

    The grid is shaping up rather nicely for 2014. We’ve got to wait for Lotus to make their move and of course lets not forget that Ross Brawn could be a free agent next season. What ever it is, we will keep you updated.

     

  • Marussia’s Pat Symonds Moves to Williams

    Marussia’s Pat Symonds Moves to Williams

    The Marussia F1 team announced today, (16 July 2013) that their Technical Consultant Pat Symonds has been released off his responsibilities to the team with immediate effect.

    At the same time Williams F1 announced that Mike Coughlan has stepped down from his role as Technical Director at the Grove based team and Pat Symonds will take up the role as Chief Technical Offier at Williams, effective from 19 August 2013.

    “I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with the Marussia F1 Team over the course of the past two and a half seasons. The Team has developed immeasurably during that time and it now has all the right people and resources in place to achieve great things in the future. I wish the Team the success it so richly deserves.” said Symonds.

    “I’m delighted that Pat is joining the team. His technical capabilities and sporting successes speak for themselves and I’m sure that his knowledge and leadership will contribute considerably to the success that all of us at Williams are working hard to achieve.” said Williams founder, Sir Frank Williams about appointing Pat Symonds.

    Symonds who brought success to the Benetton and Renault, and with his partnership with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso that produced 32 race wins, 4 Drivers’ World Championships and 3 Constructors’ World Championships, had this to say about Williams F1; “Williams is a team steeped in success and engineering excellence and I’m honoured to be asked to play a role in returning the team to its rightful place at the pinnacle of Formula One.