Williams will not give up - Claire Williams

I don't want to scapegoat Claire because clearly she's not the only problem, but I think she needs to quit (because she won't be fired). Sam Michael, Ron Dennis, Stefano Domenicali, and many others were let go for much less than what has happened under Claire's management. She's clearly not up to the task. Williams has had money problems before, serious problems. But somehow I never imagine that things would look this bad under Patrick Head or Frank.

True, but to just take Dennis as an example: Claire managed to bring on sponsors like Martini and signed a deal with Mercedes under her reigned, two very good moves. Dennis signed with Honda (and it pains me to say it, but it was a mistake), failed to bring a new big sponsor on board and lost a ton of others, while also failing to sign other big names to make the best of their current situation. I really dont think Claire is to blame for this. Frank, meanwhile, wasnt really all gold either: remember that under his reign, the BMW deal soured quite badly, and he resorted to Toyota engines after that. Something needs to happen, thats for sure, but Im not sure that event has to be Claire being Claired...uhuhu... from the team.

@Calle All true. The difference I would say in the case of Dennis for example, is that (1) he has a rich history of success with the team. Like him or not, he was running the show during the golden years. The Honda deal was bad, but it was a gamble that made 100% sense at the time. Nobody could have anticipated how catastrophically bad the Honda engine would be. Anyway, in the case of Claire... I'll give credit for the Martini deal, but I also think the deal was not renewed largely due to the under performance of the team and drivers who couldn't represent their brand properly (or couldn't even legally wear the Martini logo). The Mercedes engine was no great score. Mercedes had surplus capacity and Williams needed an engine.

True, but this isnt The Dennis. The Dennis we had now was different to what we had back then. They took a risk for sure, but the way they handled that risk was abysmal, and worsened an already grave situation. So far, Claire hasnt even really done the mistakes Dennis did back then. And I personally would rate Williams' switch to Merc' as a success on their behalf, because they too took a risk, and delivered on it for two years. As for the Martini deal: as far as I've heard, Martini never intended to extend the deal to begin with. Their mediocre performance later on, and abysmal 2018 season, probably increased their determination, but AFAIK, it wasnt ever meant to be something longterm... Sadly. I will sure miss that livery though. But as I've said before: this could mean that Williams is the new Sauber, and McLaren is the new Williams. Which is a pity.

The real problem started when they were complacent during the transition when Pat Symonds departed, and they didn't care to get a performer instead of another pay driver. Not to mention, the poor choices in staff selection.

It's sad, but to an extent it's a like a rubbish fire you can't help to look at. Williams is at the very core of F1, but not the current team. So I'd like to see get destroyed soon, so it can be rebuild.

Their biggest problem this season is not that the drivers are crap but that their car is utterly horrible.

Obviously this is just speculation but I wouldn't be at all surprised if part of the reason for those senior people leaving the team was to do with salaries not being paid out on time or in full. Wouldn't be the first time an F1 team in trouble couldn't pay it's employees.