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2018 Williams car to be "more aggressive"

Published on 06 Jan 2018 15:28
12
By: Fergal Walsh

Felipe Massa says that Williams's 2018 car will look a lot more aggressive than its 2017 challenger. Massa, who retired at the end of the 2017 season, admits that he peeked at the car in the wind tunnel last year and was impressed by what he saw.

"I saw the new car in the wind tunnel and I saw so many changes that look quite interesting," Massa told Autosport. "Everybody is working. Maybe you get to the first race and everybody has so many different changes and everything in the car. The car looks a lot more aggressive. It looks a lot different so I believe maybe they can improve."

The 2018 car will be the first that Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe has headed. Lowe joined the Grove-based squad following the conclusion of the 2016 season, leaving Mercedes after securing three consecutive championships.

Williams is the only team left to announce its line-up for this season, with Sergey Sirotkin reportedly close to signing a deal. Massa added that the team will have a fight on its hands next year as he predicts Renault and McLaren will move upwards.

"You will have Renault that will improve," he said. "You will also have McLaren so we need to see how much it can be this improvement. I need to see also what the drivers can do but I believe maybe the team can have a better car compared to what we had until now."

Fergal Walsh

Rindtchamp

Posts: 304

With two pay drivers? Good luck with that.

2
Jan 6 2018 - 17:52

F1 News Felipe Massa Sergey Sirotkin Mercedes Williams McLaren Renault

Replies (12)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
But will it be good?
- + 0
- Jan 6 2018 - 17:27
Rindtchamp

Posts: 304
With two pay drivers? Good luck with that.
- + 2
- Jan 6 2018 - 17:52
FatMike

Posts: 153
Bla bla....it will be hideous white with martini stripes just like last year....

I miss the blue white Williams from the 90ies.
- + 0
- Jan 6 2018 - 18:26
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I might be a minority, but I love the Martini livery.
  + 0
  
  Jan 6 2018 - 20:46
- Kean
  
  Posts: 692
  Here I go again with the Sean Bull (I swear I'm not him), but I like the Martini stripes on the blue livery that he has as a concept livery.
  + 0
  
  Jan 6 2018 - 22:16
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  I think they should stick with white. I like blue, but we already have at least 2 mainly blue cars for next year, even with Sauber not wearing blue suede shoes anymore. 'sides, they are the only car with a mostly white livery on the grid (I count Haas as mostly grey), so it helps with differentiating them from the others.
  + 0
  
  Jan 6 2018 - 22:35
- kngrthr
  
  Posts: 203
  i like the martini look too.
  
  unlike some it looks good at a distance also
  + 1
  
  Jan 7 2018 - 08:42
boudy

Posts: 1,168
Without the sponsors that these drivers bring Williams would not be able to compete. This is in the nature of the Williams F1 team. Every team wants the best drivers in their car but with some teams this choice is linked to the financial part of running the team. Sauber and Williams seem to be the only ones left with such an structure. Force India seems to have enough financial strength to go more for performance. All the others are either bankrolled by manufacturers or main sponsors. There should be more teams in F1 allowing for more drivers to compete. Ps I like the Williams colour scheme.
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- Jan 7 2018 - 10:09
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Force India were lucky, they managed to get big sponsors from both their drivers (BWT and all of Perez' sponsors), while at the same time having pretty good drivers.
  + 0
  
  Jan 7 2018 - 10:24
- Barron
  
  Posts: 625
  Williams are a public company now, therefore they answer to shareholders who may not be that interested in the racing as much as their dividend (or lack of).
  + 0
  
  Jan 8 2018 - 12:40
- Mr N71
  
  Posts: 31
  Force India and Williams have about the same financial strength. The Force India car is good because the whole back part of the car comes from Mercedes as a package. Williams wanted that but didnt get it cause they don't have a Mercedes driver in their car.
  + 0
  
  Jan 8 2018 - 17:16
ajpennypacker

Posts: 2,475
They have been saying this every single year for the last 10 years probably. Williams is a corporation interested in serving shareholders, not winning races. As long as they are average and cost effective, they are happy. The drivers they have picked (or let go) for the last 8 years tell you everything you need to know about their ambitions. The juiciest pay drivers the sport has ever seen (Bruno Senna, Pastor Maldonado, Lance Stroll), average drivers about a decade past their prime (Barrichello, Massa), and the good ones they had, they've let go (Rosberg, Bottas).
- + 0
- Jan 8 2018 - 18:10