- 27 Nov 08, 18:31#82779
formula one is no longer about pure passion and determination, its more a money business than anything (similar to football in respects to that money takes precedent over the actual sport) and unfortunately for williams its an end of an era. when you have teams like toyota spending big money and achieving relatively little per $ spent, williams does not stand a chance without a miracle.
i don't believe williams will leave f1 in the way super aguri did, but rather the way sauber went. time marches on and the weak get left behind... sad as it may be.
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Well, you've basically hit the nail on the head. Sir Frank Williams - legendary as he is - is either delusional in thinking that his business model still works or is too arrogant to admit that it's outmoded. There were several reasons why Ron Dennis brought Mercedes into the McLaren Group (then McLaren-TAG Holdings), one of which was that he saw the direction Formula One was taking in the mid-1990s - i.e. expenditure was beginning to creep up. It's all very well being in Williams' situation when you are successful: companies are queuing up to sponsor the team, the best drivers want to work for the team etc.; but as soon as you hit a bad patch for a couple of seasons, your loss of success looses the things which made you successful in the first instance. It came as no surprise to me that Williams' fortunes dipped after Renault bailed out at the end of 1997 and went into free fall when BMW left them a couple of years back. Williams' finances are on live support at the moment. If things don't go well next season, Sir Frank would be crazy not to look for an investor. Unfortunately for him, the "credit crunch" means buying a stake in an ailing Formula One team isn't high up on businesses' to-do list.
I agree as well. But i can understand Frank's resistance. Williams F1 team's heart is still that of a racer, he doesn't want to corporatise it to the extent the other teams are doing. Its nostalgia, unpractical in the current climate sure, but the right way to be They are one of my favourite teams on the grid and am glad BMW's left 'em. But yes i guess its time for him to let go, and it may be too late now as you say.
formula one is no longer about pure passion and determination, its more a money business than anything (similar to football in respects to that money takes precedent over the actual sport) and unfortunately for williams its an end of an era. when you have teams like toyota spending big money and achieving relatively little per $ spent, williams does not stand a chance without a miracle.
i don't believe williams will leave f1 in the way super aguri did, but rather the way sauber went. time marches on and the weak get left behind... sad as it may be.
