| ATLAS F1 Volume 6, Issue 44 | |||
| Atlas F1 Exclusive: Fast Forward the Williams Way | |||
| by Roger Horton, England | |||
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To a large extent, the BMW-Williams team and their drivers pairing were the surprise of the 2000 season. No one had bet on the Grove-based outfit to finish as 'the best of the rest' and many were quick to belittle Jenson Button's chances in his rookie year, due to lack of experience and young age. Now, seventeen races later, Button and Williams are the hotshots of the paddock. Roger Horton returns from Malaysia, where he talked to the Williams management and both drivers on their remarkable year, and on what the future holds
During all this time, Williams and his partner and technical director, Patrick Head, have remained firmly in control. Racing has always been Frank and Patrick's passion; much of what consumes their time now is business, the endless grind of raising the money, pleasing the sponsors, and handling the seemingly endless politics that is almost a constant part of the modern F1 scene.
The Williams team have a reputation for getting value for money in every area - a throwback, perhaps, to the days when the team lived from hand to mouth, one step ahead of their creditors, always struggling to pay their bills. Investing money wisely is a way of life at the Williams team.
Talk to Frank Williams, and you are always struck by just how economical he is with words too. "Private business" is a favourite response to an unwelcome question. Ron Dennis, team boss of his great rival McLaren, recently answered the same question with the same answer, but took over 60 words to say it.
So when Frank Williams talks freely, people listen, because unlike so many of his contemporary team bosses, he only likes to speak when he has something to say. And unlike so many of his rivals he cares nothing for a 'sound bite' that will grab a headline, or please a sponsor. Which other team boss would describe his prospects for next year as "very modest, going down to slim" as he did recently, and not be written off as a defeatist?
In truth, the performance of the team in the three years since they lost the use of the all-conquering Renault engine has been remarkably consistent. In 1998, they scored 38 points and finished third; in 1999 they managed 35 points and dropped to fifth; so is this year's score of 36 and a return to the 'best of the rest' position, behind Ferrari and McLaren, in the first year of their relationship with BMW, such a big deal?
"It's been a pleasant surprise, a lot of hard work," Frank Williams told Atlas F1 in Malaysia. "An achievement that was not expected, because both parties, BMW and ourselves, as you probably remember, understated our expectations so as not to create too much disappointment if we didn't achieve our own targets. To be third in the championship is very pleasing."
Responding to the comments in Malaysia that there were many tipping the combination of Ralf Schumacher and Williams to be the one to take the fight to the current 'big two', Frank was once again cautious. "Every driver here has his potential performance coloured by the equipment at his disposal. We have optimism for next year - expectations - but I wouldn't dream of saying that next year we will get in and throttle the Reds and the Greys." He then paused, before adding quietly with a slight smile: "Not yet, anyway."
Such, though, is Frank Williams' enthusiasm for his developing partnership with BMW, that he wants to leave no doubt as to the seriousness of their intent. "The resources that BMW are putting into this, and we can compare them with the two other engine partners we have worked with (Honda and Renault), are very, very impressive. And I think that they will get the job done, and when I say get the job done I mean be the best, that's their target obviously. So for Williams to have a partner such as that is very fortunate."
Last year, team leader Ralf Schumacher scored all 35 points for the Grove based outfit, as Alex Zanardi struggled to come to terms with the demands of Formula One in general and the rather recalcitrant FW21 in particular. On the face of it, based on the team's performance at Sepang, the FW22 was not much better, as Ralf once again qualified in eighth place, and Jenson Button matched Zanardi's disappointing 16th on the grid as well.
Despite this, Ralf has no doubts that the FW22 was a big step forward compared to its predecessor. "It's the aerodynamic package that's better," he says. "Last year, the car was very critical to drive. That was because of aerodynamics, obviously, and we had more problems on high downforce, low grip circuits like Monaco, where we struggled to get mechanical grip. We struggled at the beginning of this year as well, but we found a way to get better things out of this FW22, which doesn't mean it's perfect yet, but it's not bad."
The younger Schumacher also stated that, especially in the second half of the season, he felt his car was genuinely the third best car on the grid, although there were some occasions when he didn't get the best out of it. There are also those that say, that the speed of his young teammate has rattled him in recent races, and that he will need to raise his game considerably if he is to hold his own against the incoming Juan Montoya.
Next year will be Ralf Schumacher's fifth season in F1, and he is still searching for that first elusive win, a point that clearly rankles with him, not so much because of any failures on his part, but due to the quality of the equipment at his disposal and the difficulty of working himself into a car that he can win with.
So another F1 year for Ralf, and another new teammate. Looking back, which one did he consider to be his toughest competition? "I think the most competition I had was with Giancarlo [Fisichella, at Jordan], but that might have been because it was my first year. Quite challenging as well was Damon, because of his experience and his speed in those days. It was a shame the way he left Formula One, because in his last year he was so bad. He was very quick on some circuits but maybe he lost the joy of it, I don't know. And then there's Jenson, of course; those three would be the best teammates I've had."
"Alex was a good teammate. I mean, he was nice to work with, and obviously my life was a lot easier than with the other three," he added, laughing.
He was joined in the Williams team this year by Jenson Button, who many believe is to be the best newcomer to enter Formula One in a generation, and who is rated by many as a future world champion. But, next year, Juan Montoya will replace Button - as Frank Williams honours his verbal agreement made to the Colombian earlier in the year - a move Ralf would have preferred not to have happened. "It's a shame Jenson had to go because I think we were a good team," he says.
All year, the Williams team have had to deal with the speculation that, brilliant though Button undoubtedly is, he would eventually have to make way for the hugely talented, but in Formula One terms untried, ex-CART champion.
Button now confirms that he knew it would be the case from the first time he talked with Frank Williams about joining the team. "I knew, but I had to take the opportunity and it has worked out well. It could have gone the other way. If I had not got into Formula One (with Williams) it could have been another three years, another year of F3, a year in F3000, then ChampCars, it could have gone on forever."
He admits to being slightly overwhelmed at the first race of the year in Melbourne, walking into his first drivers' briefing and being surrounded by all those F1 drivers. "I didn't expect too much from myself in those first races, I was pretty calm and knew that I just had to learn and keep driving, because I didn't really get that much testing at the start of the year, so for the first four or five races I was learning the car more than the circuits."
Being teammate to a more experienced and highly rated driver such as Ralf Schumacher was never going to be easy, and Button's goal was to get close to him by the end of the season. He admits that he never set out with the expectation that he would outqualify Ralf on a regular basis, as indeed happened towards the end of the year, especially as Ralf was the team's clear number one driver and had exclusive use of the spare car throughout the year.
Button's third place on the grid at Spa was without question one of the highlights of his debut season, but overall he believes the Japanese Grand Prix was his best overall performance. "In Japan, in qualifying and in the race, it was the hardest I have ever pushed in a racing car, because I knew the circuit was going to be very tough. After Friday practice I was way off the pace, so I knew I had to push that little bit harder, so I did and it worked. So it's nice to know when I push to the limit I can stay on the circuit.
"Carrying the speed through the corners was one of the main things I learned through the season. In Japan, especially in the Esses - whereas before I would lift off, think about the corner, go through the corner, and then accelerate - you actually have to push all the way through the corner. It's great, because I feel so much more together with the car now, and I can really play with it a lot more.
"Before, if I had a lot of oversteer I would lift off, but now in qualifying I keep it fully lit, it's so much easier, I am so much more in control. I can set the car up now the way I like to drive it, whereas before I went in Ralf's direction with set up. Now, generally I run a softer front end on the car, I normally run less wing, and that is pretty much on most circuits Ralf likes a bit more of a pointy car; I like it a bit more stable on the rear."
The Williams team management has had a reputation in the past of being tough on its drivers, and not always providing the support that some might have liked. Jenson Button dismisses any such suggestions, stating firmly that not one cross-word has been exchanged all year, despite the obvious pressure involved in most racing weekends.
The Malaysian race did not end in the way anyone at Williams wanted; two DNFs and no last race podium for Jenson Button. But in far away Magny-Cours, the next generation BMW engine has already completed its first test successfully, and ahead of schedule. Michelin, one of the most respected tyre companies in the world, with a tremendous Grand Prix pedigree, will be returning to Formula One next year, and with Williams as their prime team.
Early next year, there will be the annual extravaganza of new car launches, when most of the teams will talk up their chances and speak a lot about new beginnings with the eternal optimism of racing people. Sir Frank Williams has already spoken about his prospects for the new season, and it sums up the man and his outlook on his racing life: "I would rather not be pessimistic, so instead I take a very simple view of how difficult F1 is, and always remind myself how good these guys at McLaren and Ferrari are.
"So I would rather talk small and maybe deliver big, than talk big and deliver nothing."
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| Roger Horton | © 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated. |
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