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[zurich_allan]

Sam Michael has resigned as Williams technical director but will not leave his post until the end of 2011.

The team's chief aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson has also resigned.

Williams, who have won nine team titles, have failed to take a single point from the opening three races.

Team boss Sir Frank Williams said: "Sam and Jon have resigned to give the team the opportunity to undertake the changes necessary to get back to the front of the grid."

Williams have already made a change to their technical department as the British team announced that Mike Coughlan will return to F1 as their chief engineer in June.

The team, which made their F1 debut in 1978, have failed to translate its promising pre-season form into race performance.

Reliability problems, including transmission and hydraulic issues, meant neither Rubens Barrichello nor Pastor Maldonado finished the opening races in Australia and Malaysia.

Barrichello finished 13th at the last race in China but Maldonado was 18th and saw Heikki Kovalainen's Team Lotus finish ahead of a Williams for the first time.

Michael as the head of the team's technical department has been under pressure to reverse the team's fortunes but he and Tomlinson have made the decision to stand down at the end of the campaign.

Continue reading the main story
Sam and Jon recognised the team's performance is not at the level it needs to be
Sir Frank Williams
"Both Sam and Jon are talented and driven people who have worked hard for Williams over 10 and five years respectively," added Williams, who co-founded the team with engineering director Patrick Head.

"Nonetheless, they have recognised that the team's performance is not at the level that it needs to be and have resigned in order to give the team the opportunity to regroup and undertake the changes necessary to get back to the front of the grid.

"Both will continue to work in their present positions through until the end of the year to ensure that the team maintains focus and momentum during the 2011 season.

"We are very grateful to Sam and to Jon for their professional approach."

Michael joined Williams in 2001 and became technical director three years later as Head assumed the role of engineering director. Tomlinson joined the team's aerodynamic department four years ago.

The reshuffle of the technical department is the latest transition Williams who floated a 24% stake in the team on the stock exchange in March.

Williams are one of the most successful teams in F1, but they have slipped from the pedestal they occupied when they dominated the sport for much of the 1980s and 1990s.

They have not won a championship since 1997 and last won a grand prix in 2004.

The team hope to recover some performance at this weekend's Turkish Grand Prix where they are expected to introduce a raft of updates including new front and rear wings and a modified floor.

From the BBC Sport Website - article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/13267766.stm

[zurich_allan]

So Mike Coughlan is back in F1, Sam Michael is stepping down... Thoughts?

[What's Burning?]

My thought is that Sir Frank must feel the situation the team is severe enough that it required a fresh perspective. I had high hopes for them.

[zurich_allan]

I agree with that, but over and above, sadly I think it also says that the potential of their 2011 car clearly just isn't there. They must have looked at everything and decided that the car simply can't be improved to the standard it needs to be / should be at. The team are clearly going to try to go in a radically different direction with their car for 2012.

[What's Burning?]

I agree with that, but over and above, sadly I think it also says that the potential of their 2011 car clearly just isn't there. They must have looked at everything and decided that the car simply can't be improved to the standard it needs to be / should be at. The team are clearly going to try to go in a radically different direction with their car for 2012.

Yes, you managed to say it a lot more eloquently than I did. It's a bid sad though, Williams is one of those teams that people just root for, I'd love to see them back fighting with the big bank rolled teams, but this looks to be a devastating year for them. Wonder if along with the current changes they'll also say goodbye to Rubino.

[Hammer278]

I'm not surprised about Sam Michael stepping down.

I still recall the time when WIlliams missed out narrowly on 2 Championships some time back when Head was in charge. Right after, Head moved laterally with Sam Michael taking his place, and from then on it was a very gradual downhill run for them till today where they are absolutely nowhere, relative to their expectations.

There goes my chances of getting a respectable result in the fantasy team competition. Blast you Williams, blast you!

[zurich_allan]

I agree with that, but over and above, sadly I think it also says that the potential of their 2011 car clearly just isn't there. They must have looked at everything and decided that the car simply can't be improved to the standard it needs to be / should be at. The team are clearly going to try to go in a radically different direction with their car for 2012.

Yes, you managed to say it a lot more eloquently than I did. It's a bid sad though, Williams is one of those teams that people just root for, I'd love to see them back fighting with the big bank rolled teams, but this looks to be a devastating year for them. Wonder if along with the current changes they'll also say goodbye to Rubino.

Yeah, it is really sad to see Williams going the same way that Tyrell did in the 80's / 90's, sliding from the top, to the midfield, to the back and then finally sold off... Lets just hope that Williams manage to stem the damage and begin to move back in the right direction. I think this could be Rubens' last year too, I believe he still is potentially very fast on his day, but seems more than ever these days (I think actually since '09 with Brawn) to be very much dependent on his motivation, when his motivation is high he can be brilliant, but when it's low he can be woeful. I just have the impression that his motivation is at an all time low right now, and I don't have anything firm to base it on, just bits and pieces from seeing and reading interviews and his general demeanour this season so far.

I'll be interested to see the reaction from the rest of the paddock to Coughlan being back in F1, potentially he could be the saviour for Williams, but then it's a big gamble to bring in someone who left F1 in disgrace as he did, having now been out of F1 for 3 years or so - a lot will have changed in that time.

[Denthúl]

I think it was necessary for Sam to go, in the end, but I'm not sure bringing in Coughlan was such a great idea. Hopefully, this change will bring some positive results.

[Jabberwocky]

I dont think bringing Coughlan back is a bad idea, it is not as if he we a bad engineer, and if your at the back with no good ideas then no one will want to buy them of him.

[Hammer278]

I dont think bringing Coughlan back is a bad idea, it is not as if he we a bad engineer, and if your at the back with no good ideas then no one will want to buy them of him.

He was never bought out...Nigel Stepney GAVE the ideas to Coughlan on a silver platter, not the other way around.

[bud]

Coughlan should be banned for life.

[madbrad]

Classically, you need a works engine to win a decent number of races. You probably need the BEST works engine. Brawn and Red Bull are exceptions to that principal, of course. But that Renault engine is so good it's good even as a customer engine. Anyhoo, Williams had success when it had the best engine, and was getting it for free. Wins turn into eventual dollars so the whole package becomes unbeatable. You need a lot of dollars, and a lot of time. It's also a bit of a catch-22 situation. You need each of the 2 to get the other. Williams has not had dollars since 1997. They had dollars after that but they had to spend it on renting a slow engine. It takes a long time to recover from that. They almost did until BMW left them. So they had to start from the bottom again. They won't improve at all without those key elements.

[bud]

Classically, you need a works engine to win a decent number of races. You probably need the BEST works engine. Brawn and Red Bull are exceptions to that principal, of course. But that Renault engine is so good it's good even as a customer engine. Anyhoo, Williams had success when it had the best engine, and was getting it for free. Wins turn into eventual dollars so the whole package becomes unbeatable. You need a lot of dollars, and a lot of time. It's also a bit of a catch-22 situation. You need each of the 2 to get the other. Williams has not had dollars since 1997. They had dollars after that but they had to spend it on renting a slow engine. It takes a long time to recover from that. They almost did until BMW left them. So they had to start from the bottom again. They won't improve at all without those key elements.

Although its not works per sé, they probably are Cosworths major force in Cosworths eyes though.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

So Mike Coughlan is back in F1, ... Thoughts?

Can Stepney, Flavio and Nelshino be far behind?

[myownalias]

I'm for anything that pushes Williams up the field; so these changes gets a from me! Something is clearly wrong within the Williams camp so changes need to be made; and the personnel that have resigned realise this; I don't believe they have been fired as some people will no doubt be saying; hopefully Williams can become a top 10 team by mid season!