Motorsport Week will be running individual team reviews across the next couple of weeks to reflect on the 2019 Formula 1 season. Today we begin with Williams, which finished at the foot of the 10-team standings for a second straight year.
Williams has endured a dire season. It scored a solitary point – and even that came after its lead car initially greeted the chequered flag in P12. It never made it to Q2, let alone Q3. It usually won the Saturday afternoon press release race on account of its session lasting only 18 minutes. Will 2020 be better? Hopefully. This is a great team, rich in history, and full of determined people, who also put on the best night in the paddock with their ‘pub’ quiz. And for that we thank them.
There were some good moments. The point in Germany. George Russell’s displays, unrelenting optimism and long-term potential. The regularly rapid and consistent pit stops. The extension of its deal with a new title sponsor, and renewal of its Mercedes engine contract. And even though Robert Kubica’s fairy-tale comeback had a dismal conclusion it nonetheless happened – an extraordinary tale of resilience and determination.
But for the wider TV audience – and casual fans – Williams only usually made a fleeing appearance in Q1 and while being lapped at grands prix, becoming recognised as ‘that team that used to be good in the 1980s and 1990s’. In something of a near-exorcism here is a breakdown of (most) of the things that went wrong for Williams in 2019, outside of the usual Q1 exits, slow pace (“no grip, sliding, no confidence”), and three-lap-down finishes. Here, then, are the 19 lowest moments of Williams’ ultimately low Lowe-less 2019.
1. The car wasn’t ready for shakedown
Most teams organised a shakedown for their cars ahead of the start of the 2019 season, just to get a little bit of a head start before the official opening of Barcelona testing, which ran for eight days, across two stints. And by shakedown we of course mean a filming day *glances to camera*. Williams’ FW42 wasn’t quite ready. But still, it meant the team was only marginally behind its rivals as testing was just a couple of days away.
2. The car wasn’t ready for testing
Ah. Right. A problem developed into a crisis when the FW42 wasn’t ready in time for the opening of Barcelona testing. Day 1 was missed. Day 2 was also missed. The Williams garage sat empty as opponents racked up the miles. The car rocked up in the early hours of Day 3 and by lunchtime, after a herculean effort from the mechanics, it was ready.
3. Swing Lowe’s sweet chariot?
Claire Williams nobly and honestly dismissed budget or external suppliers as cause for the FW42’s delay. Paddy Lowe was not named but it was clear where – or rather who – was responsible. Lowe asserted that the drivers had given positive feedback on the car, were encouraged by improvements, and that there was little point in changing senior personnel. Seven days later he took a leave of absence. Lowe’s Williams comeback was over in all but name, and eventually became official in June.
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4. Australia confirms worst fears
Maybe testing was a blip. Maybe it wouldn’t be quite that bad. Maybe. Maybe not. Definitely not. It was bad. It was dismally bad. Russell qualified 1.3s away from the tail-end of the midfield, Kubica was further away – having been so surprised by a pick-up in grip in Q1 that he, er, crashed – and in the race the pair were two and three laps down respectively. Kubica also damaged his front wing on the first lap. The next races were written off as extended test sessions, with Russell revealing a “fundamental” flaw had been exposed that would take months, rather than weeks, to address.
5. Baku hopes go down the drain
Off the pace, facing a season at the back, and already swatting aside negative press. At least it couldn’t get worse. Only it did. Russell, struggling for full fitness after picking up a nasty bug post-China, struck a loose drain cover at near full speed on his first FP1 lap in Azerbaijan. It caused substantial damage to the underside of the car. Bits of the FW42 spread themselves across Baku. Fortunately Russell was uninjured while Baku organisers sent along flowers and offered to cover the financial damage in full. Not a case of well done Baku but rather weld drain Baku…
6. Well, that’s rock bottom. Truck driver: Hold my beer
FP1 was stopped – and did not restart as safety checks were undertaken – and Russell’s car was put on the back of a low-loader and taken back towards the pit lane. Nothing could go wrong here. Wrong! The truck struck the pedestrian bridge along the main straight and, while there was no further damage to an already fairly knackered car, oil from the truck leaked onto the FW42. If this was a sitcom you’d have canned this scene on account of being too unrealistic, or at least played this theme over the development.
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7. Well, at least the other car was fine
And then Kubica crashed in Q1.
8. Equality street
The results early in the season had perplexed Kubica, feeling that the team was fielding two different cars, owing to the same set-up producing different results. In Spain Williams vehemently denied this was the case. Kubica suspected different floors were to blame but the team was never able to fully find an answer. The forced chassis changes rendered any suspicions obsolete as Kubica got the new chassis intended for him pre-drain incident in Baku while Russell ran Kubica’s old chassis. “There was an issue with the car which was appearing and not appearing, depending on the corner, lap. I would have to tell you ‘China lap one this corner, then lap five the other corner.” Kubica remained off the pace.
9. Kubica gets torpedoed in Monaco
Kubica silenced any ill-advised critics who doubted he would “be able to turn the steering wheel” around Monaco’s tight confines. He made a good start and picked up a couple of positions… only to be assaulted by Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo, tipping his FW42 around, and wrecking any slim chance of a decent result.
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10. New updates didn’t last long
Williams fitted new components to Kubica’s car for Friday practice in Germany but after the session he revealed he had been “compromised already on the installation lap” and that it was the “second weekend in a row” something had gone wrong. Bodywork had come loose on his out-lap – Williams’ fragility over kerbs was a continuing theme in 2019 – and damage was detected that necessitated a chassis change overnight into Saturday. Just what the Williams mechanics wanted as temperatures soared in heatwave-stricken Europe.
11. Kubica’s engine fails.
The summer break is often a reset and Williams took Mercedes’ new Phase 3 engine in Belgium. Only Kubica’s failed on his Q1 installation lap. And it wasn’t just a failure. It was a big ‘ol plume of smoke visible from space failure. Kubica failed to set a lap and then had to navigate the race and the next two events on an old, down-on-power engine. A good job the following event wasn’t *checks notes* Monza.
12. To lose one front wing is unlucky…
…and to lose two was even unluckier. Russell’s strong start in Singapore propelled him towards the rear of the midfield but he was sandwiched and contact with Daniel Ricciardo meant he lost his front wing. Russell regrouped, re-joined at the back, but was then eliminated from the race after a clash with Romain Grosjean through Turn 9. One damaged car, a first retirement, and two knackered front wings was not the desired outcome.
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13. Russian roulette
Williams had not entirely been flushed with spare parts and thus the Singapore weekend hampered its prospects. On to Russia, and the exotic seaside resort of Sochi. The car was dreadfully off the pace, relatively speaking, and Russell suffered a second exit in a week when a wheel nut retainer broke. Russell gracefully departed stage right, into the Turn 9 barriers, with more damaged components.
14. Pole Parking
Moments after Russell glided into the barriers Williams called Kubica into the pits and retired him. Kubica was perplexed and wanted clarification. Then a sponsor of Kubica’s, PKN Orlen, waded into the equation and suggested it could take action, hinting at a contractual breach. When later questioned Kubica distanced himself from the sponsor’s actions. Williams clarified that Kubica had been parked due to the accident damage and to save parts for the next events.
15. Kubica’s Super Sunday starts sour
Formula 1 scheduled qualifying and the race for Sunday in the wake of Typhoon Hagibis sweeping through Japan, but Kubica’s day started badly and ended dismally. Kubica slid wide as he exited the final corner to begin his first push lap in Q1, suffering a hefty impact with the barriers, and giving the mechanics a short turnaround time in which to change his chassis prior to the race start.
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16. “Decisions”
Kubica had enjoyed Friday practice at Suzuka but his buoyant mood soon soured on Sunday morning. The new 2020 prototype front wing had assisted his feeling with the FW42. But while Kubica thought it was staying on the car for Sunday that turned out not to be the case. Kubica spoke post-race of “decisions” being made “without letting me know”, hinting at subterfuge without making any outright accusations, declining to make any grand statements. Williams stressed it was always the plan to run the wing only on Friday. Relationship status: it’s complicated.
17. Russell’s brake woes
Russell also had a miserable time in Japan as a brake problem that had hampered him for several events reached its nadir. “We’re going to have to stop,” he radioed after 10 or so laps of the race. “It’s getting to the point of danger.” Russell persevered and reached the chequered flag but was in no mood to find any positives. “When you're almost braking into every corner you have no confidence on the brakes, it means you have no confidence to attack the corner, that was compromising my pace,” he rued.
18. Interla-boff
Kubica sat out the opening practice session in Brazil as tester Nicholas Latifi ran for his sixth and final FP1. Kubica got the car back for FP2. Then binned it on his first flying lap. At Turn 2. The Pole suspected that residual kerb water thrown up by Kevin Magnussen, allied with the use of Hard tyres, left him with no control as he exited the corner. It meant Kubica’s on-track running on Friday lasted around two minutes. And it meant yet another change of chassis.
19. Almost taking out the leader in Brazil
Kubica had almost been lapped by the time he made his first stop in Brazil and upon being released from his pit box he came perilously close to wiping out leader Max Verstappen. Stewards felt Kubica had reacted slowly to the green light and deemed him culpable, issuing a time penalty. At least the team got through Abu Dhabi in a smooth manner. Here's to a better 2020…
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