Barrichello talks up 2011 Williams

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More signs that Williams are expecting a good year in 2010.

Links

Barrichello: 2011 Williams is ‘aggressive’ (Autosport)

“Next year’s car is definitely in aggressive mode. But it’s about whoever makes the tyres work better.”

I’m Proud (Tony Fernandes)

“Riad [Asmat] was the raw diamond that I love polishing into a sparking gem. In the last year, he has proved himself many times over. He has shown that he can go from being just a glorified secretary to sitting in the same room as the bosses of Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Williams. Not just holding his own in such company, but contributing to the discussions and resolution of issues. This coming year, I expect him to really come into his own and dazzle all as he moves from Malaysia to Lotus headquarters in Norfolk, England.”

Comment of the day

The first round of voting in the Champion of Champions has been somewhat one-sided, but RBAlonso supplied some excellent perspective on Giuseppe Farina:

It must be remembered that Farina (like Fangio) lost his best years to the war and had been extremely successful beforehand, with extreme competition (Varzi, Caracciola, Chiron, Rosemeyer, Kling and of course Nuvolari). Although I must concede that that also adds a further dimension to this debate, as Farina did not have the intense global spotlight as a rookie, as much as in controversial and highly intense championship battles, that Schumacher faced.
RBAlonso

From the forum

If Lotus aren’t going to be Lotus because Lotus are going to be called Lotus instead, what should Lotus be called?

Happy birthday!

No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Five years ago today Alexander Wurz switched from McLaren to Williams – although he remained a test driver. But that paved the way for his return to the race team in 2007.

Read more: Alexander Wurz biography

Image © Williams/LAT

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45 comments on “Barrichello talks up 2011 Williams”

  1. I’m non-plussed. Williams always talk about aggressive design approaches and new ways of thinking and whatnot. Their cars always seem to look very conservative, though. But since they haven’t won a race since 2004, it’s becoming apparent that this is the wrong way to do things. An “aggressive design” seems to be Williams’ party line more than anything else.

    1. Their cars always seem to look very conservative, though.

      http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/cars/images/2004/williams-fw24.jpg

      Perhaps they didn’t want to try anything after this disaster.

      1. Lol David, that Walrus was really a bad piece of engineering as it has not been copied by any other team since then ….

        We should not forget this is the time of PR and we should not take every info coming from the teams seriously until end of February. Remember Ferrari told us they are going “aggressive” too and now they are biting their fingers not sure if their 2011 car will pass the FIAt-test.

        1. To call it a really bad piece of engineering is a little harsh. It actually worked really well, it just couldn’t hold up to cross winds, something which they hadn’t tested for.

      2. with the rules nowadays, will we never ever see radical designs in f1? over the last 2 years there was nothing that looked radically different.

        1. define radical? Wasn’t F-duct radical?

          1. Not aesthetically.

      3. Looking back, that walrus nose really set them back more than we thought initially. It ruined their 2004 season, which probably led to BMW looking for other options (yes, there were those BMW requests for Williams shares, but I reckon they would’ve stayed if the results stayed good). And they’ve never been quite the same since BMW left…

      4. Don’t forget that that car was a race winner, albeit after the “walrus” was removed… ;)

        Disaster? Not quite.

        1. Oh, and it was the FW26, not 24 (also a race winner).

    2. But here we have Barricello talking about it instead of the team, so it might actually turn out to be for real!

      1. Eh, still sounds like a party line.

        1. Actually reading the article, it sounds less so especially as he talks about the uncertainty with tyres.

          Sure, I guess we won’t hear any driver say “I already know our car is going to suck”, but surely most teams won’t feel that way at the moment, if only because they don’t yet know how others are doing yet. I mean, only Newey says that his team isn’t certain to do (as) well as they did this year, but he had a dominant car and might benefit from downplaying expectations.

      2. Is Ruby bringing as much money as Pastor Maldonaldonaldo?

        Is he worried about his position in the team?

        Is it too early in the year for this cynicism?

        (No.)

    3. their cars dont look conservative.

  2. More signs that Williams are expecting a good year in 2010.

    Do these aggressive designs for the new car include a time machine? :p

    1. Pssssssssssstt .. that was going to be the big secret. Now you found it out all the other teams are going to copy it …..

    2. There’s a problem though. In order for the time circuits to activate the car must reach 88 miles per hour.

      Sorry, couldn’t resist.

      1. If Williams do a Lotus and have a competition were the fans design the livery, F1Fanatics unite and photoshop a flux capacitor by the drivers head.

      2. That’s the HRT stuffed then. ;)

  3. More signs that Williams are expecting a good year in 2010

    I see it as more signs that Williams are skint. People don’t blow their own trumpets unless they have a reason too

    1. That is a particularly cynical view of Williams.

      But you’re probably right :p

      I’d dearly love this car to be a winner, and with Barrichello’s input they have a fair chance at making a good car this year. I just can’t see why their car would be more ‘aggressive’ than those from the other teams. Particularly when they have Sam Michaels leading the technical team as opposed to Adrian Newey or Ross Brawn

      1. Williams really haven’t been known for taking risks with their car design in the past 5-6 seasons. In 2009, they did risk it with the diffuser, but apparently not enough to make a strong car for the whole season. I personally, would like Williams to do well again, but I really doubt they will have much to show next year.

  4. Lol, first 4 posts here include 4 people not buying it. I wonder just how much money their experianced GP2 boy is bringing, vast oil wealth, or just enough to keep the whole thing ticking over before eventually Williams get their German car maker or go bust.

    If somethings seriously wrong, would they try and hide it this way? Seems unlikley, possible I guess.

    1. The one thing they have in their favour is the experience of Barrichello. In 2009 Williams were one of the quickest 3 cars at the first race (double diffuser) but poor reliability blighted their early season, perhaps Barrichello can help them identify any potential issues if they end up in a similar position of strength this year.

      1. yeah how did ROS lose Malaysia to BUT?

        1. Come to think of it, I also remember Rosberg leading confidently in that race. He seemed to fade away after his pitstop I guess.

  5. No matter how aggressive the design of the FW33 is, having only one driver deserving of the seat is not going to help jettison Williams back to the Big Four. When will Williams learn that pay drivers don’t pay in the long run? During 2009 Kazuki Nakajima was an utter disaster when compared to not only his teammate Nico Rosberg, but also to his fellow countryman Kamui Kobayashi. Nakajima rolled a doughnut in 2009 while his rookie countryman jumped in a car with the same engine and powered through two races to score three points. This team needs more exciting talent, and Hulkenberg had me jumping out of my seat in excitement for storming his way to pole in the rain of Brazil to end the Williams team’s five year drought.

    1. Maldonado is GP2 champion, so he obviously has some talent.

      Yes yes yes I know all the arguments about the relative strength of the 2010 GP2 field, but nevertheless, he won the major feeder championship.

      He’s simply not going to be a Kazuki-style disaster.

      I’m getting pretty sick of this writing off of Maldonado before we even see him compete. Sure he’s bringing cash, but he’s also bringing success in lower-formulae.

      Apparently now drivers aren’t qualified for F1 if they bring money, or even if they bring GP2 success. God knows what people expect from them……

      1. Although I think it is a bad thing for Williams to have to pass up on the Hulk, I agree with you Ben, on letting Maldonado prove himself before writing him off.

        After all, his years of learning how to be championship material in GP2 might help him cut out on Rookie mistakes and be solid from the start in F1, especially with Rubens at hand to give setup tips.

        1. That actually sounds like a good reason to choose Maldonado. Well done Bas.

          1. Totally agree with above comments about Maldonado. Give the guy a chance to show what he can do. After all apart from the Hulk’s sensational pole he didn’t exactly set the world alight in his rookie year. Barrichello had his measure most of the season and as good as Ruben’s is he’s no Hamilton or Alonso.

        2. Nice to see someone supporting Maldonado, I’m sure he’ll do well

  6. You all seem to forget that last season thanks in part to Barrichello’s technical experience Williams developed the car better then many other teams. From Valencia onwards they had at least one car qualified in top 10 in every race after that. They had the most trouble-free blow diffuser introduction then anybody for example as well as only team bar McLaren with knee-operated F-duct.

    They don’t have the budget of “big 4” teams but they are historically the team which knows how to use limited resources in best possible way. I believe with new batch of Qatar and Venezuelan sponsors and with Rubens Barrichello influencing the design of the new car from the start they could fight for the top 4 as Cosworth thinks they can.

    Of course it is all early days and nobody has any idea what the pecking order on the grid will be, how much 2011 development was sacrificed in order to fight for 2010 at Red Bull and Ferrari.

    EVERY team is making optimistic noises in this part of the year, Williams is no exception. And I hope they will have a good season, Formula 1 needs true racers on the grid, not only corporations.

    1. True, it was the first year in ages where Williams did not fall to the back of the grid during the season but instead improved.
      Still I am highly sceptical of them actually getting on the podium on merit, even less fighting for wins next year.

  7. Usual rheotic from Williams. NO-ONE BELIEVES YOU FRANK AND PATRICK – WAKE UP. Totally lost respect for Williams years ago after repeatedly getting rid of their world champions and take great pleasure at their demise.

  8. Ben, the point being made here is not about so much doubt in Maldonado, but the way the team discarded another Gp2champ Hulkenberg. As much a I disagree with the way they have handled their drivers over the past few years, I would much rather see the team survive, here’s hoping that this years Williams can be competitive

  9. Barrichello does make a very interesting point though – saying that he helped remove some clear problems, but also that the aggressive design might not count for much, because they still have to see how the tyres work on the car relative to other teams. What he says about the 2008 Honda with 2009 slicks is intriguing in that respect.

    I am also happy for him that he finally feels fully valued after his time at Ferrari.

    That COTD illustrates the difficulties of the champions of champions rounds very well, it will be interesting to see how it ends up.

    That article from Fernandes does seem to show some of why he is a successful businessman, he is happy to encourage people to get the best out of themselves and enthuse them.

    1. I like Fernandez for his people skill, and it might well be the secred of his succes.
      Let’s hope that Lotus name row won’t disrupt a great team next year as I think they have everything going to get into solid midfield.

  10. I thought Rubens was talking himself up more than he was the new car.

    1. Waking himself up from what? He finished 2009 incredibly strong, and was still in the fight for the championship right up to the last few rounds.

    2. Whoops. You wrote “talking up”, I read that before my morning coffee and thought you’d written “waking up.” Guess I hadn’t fully woken up myself. You’re right, it does sound like he’s talking himself up.

  11. Woohoo – one of my first threads on the Forum and it gets a link in the round-up!!

  12. i just hope Williams will get back to being good again, them up front with Mclaren and Mercedes would be my dream next year.

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