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I don’t know about Spa specifically, but I’m assuming they have a merchandise park like Silverstone. I’d urge you to keep your ears open to announcements because sometimes the drivers appear at these merch stands. I was a jammy bugger and happened to be in the right place at the right time when Anthony Davidson signed a load of autographs when he was the third driver at BAR. Also lucked into seeing Schumacher and Barrichello muck about in some sort of simulators/racing game Vodafone had rigged up. Keep your ears open and remember to get there early!
I reckon Mika Salo has a shout for all three: Not very well remembered because he only did a handful of races at Ferrari, unlucky because the one and only decent chance he got to win a race he had to move over. Ha, imagine how annoying getting the old, “Mika, Eddie is faster. Than.you.” call must have been! And I always thought Salo was underrated, Almost scored on his debut for Tyrrell, seem to remember something like he spun at due to cramp from an ill-fitting seat. And I also remember reading that Ferrari were interested in him instead of Irvine but Ken Tyrrell blocked him moving
I’m inclined to agree with you Kingshark. I was thinking similarly. Obviously the 1988 McLaren was a very special car, with an amazing engine and two legendary drivers, obviously Williams losing Honda engines helped, and it was a great combo, but….
Don’t get me wrong I was a massive Damon Hill fan at the time but even I can see that his championship win in ’96 against F1 rookie Villeneuve (whose reputation has since taken a massive beating) a truly awful Ferrari, and Benetton trying to work as if Schumacher still drove there, probably doesn’t rank among the finest championship drives. It does make you wonder what that Williams might have achieved with two absolute legends behind the wheel, rather a very good driver and a rookie.
I reckon the start of the downturn was the breakdown of the relationship with BMW. They had a quick car in the early 2000s, but pretty inconsistent drivers Ralf and Montoya. IIRC Mario Thiessen wanted a bit more of a stake and we know Frank’s answer is always “NO” so after that became clear BMW bought into Sauber. Don’t forget back then everything was in a state of boom (talk of the breakaway series) and manufacturer backing was really important to win. Williams have always had a strong engineering ethic but the partnerships with Cosworth and Toyota didn’t work out, possibly Patrick Head became a bit of a dinosaur too and held onto too much for too long.
It’s had to say how reliant they are on Maldonado’s money now, even though he’s obviously doing a decent job too. I guess lack of alignment with a big engine manufacturer hit them hard, and the financial struggle has since hurt development.
