Last week, reports began circulating suggesting Jenson Button could switch to Williams for 2017.
The Briton, now the most experienced man on the F1 grid, would likely replace Felipe Massa, per said reports, and finish off his career where it all began as a fresh-faced 20-year-old 16 years ago.
The notion there is very romantic, but with a new generation of car design coming into effect next year, Williams should really be looking longer term.
The rule changes will shift the balance in the power vs. aerodynamics battle, potentially offering customer teams, such as Williams, a chance to be more competitive against their suppliers.
The driver market could also explode into life in the coming weeks and months with seats at Ferrari and Mercedes possibly coming up for grabs.
Even if that wasn’t the case, and Nico Rosberg extended his stay at Brackley and Kimi Raikkonen gave it one more year, Williams need to act sooner rather than later to attract future champions into their team.
There is no doubting that Jenson Button is a world-class driver, but up against the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, approaching the age of 40, would JB still have the ultimate pace to take on those guys in a slightly slower car?
It has been my slight beef with Button and Fernando Alonso sat in McLaren the last two years. Sure if the Honda tie-up had been competitive from the start the two would have made a formidable pairing.
But as it turned out Honda was nowhere near the front and by the end, both men were rather making jokes about it.
I daren’t bring up the fact that when a young hot rod who needs to prove himself, in Stoffel Vandoorne, stepped behind the wheel in Bahrain, he fought and brought home the team’s first point of the year at a track that far from suited McLaren.
Ultimately it is that drive of a young talent that Williams needs to maximise their progress.
Perhaps it is why Valtteri Bottas has lost the edge of a year or so ago. He sees that Mercedes are out of reach and as a result lost those last few tenths that get the best if not more from a package.
What this then leads you to ask if who should Williams go for if they indeed looked for a future star?
This first suggestion may surprise a few but how about Daniil Kvyat?
Let’s be honest, this is a guy who beat Daniel Ricciardo in his first year with Red Bull. Recent events have certainly had an impact on the Russian but at 22 years old he still has very much to offer.
He knows the pressure of driving for a ‘big’ team and with aerodynamics and slow speed corners a traditional Williams weakness he may have learned a few tricks from his time at Red Bull too.
Next is Pascal Wehrlein. The German has had something of a mixed start to his F1 career with Manor. Sometimes he shines as the star his superiors at Mercedes believe him to be but also then matched by a team-mate who most believe is there because of money.
You could argue that moving to Williams would simply be a stepping stone before moving on to the works Mercedes team and ultimately you might be right.
But with any deal with Rosberg likely to be more than just a single year, even two years at Williams would offer Wehrlein the chance to learn about life at the front, improve as a driver, and he will have the same motivation to perform as let’s say a Max Verstappen.
I wanted to stick to three suggestions, however, I’m currently torn who it should be.
Felipe Nasr might sound a strange choice, however, he is seen as someone restricted by the woes at Sauber and he already knows the Williams operation after being reserve driver in 2013.
But then there’s Carlos Sainz. This would be a case of ‘getting him before the big boys’ as the Spaniard is certainly proving himself a star in recent races.
Since he stopped being ‘the guy next to Verstappen’ at Toro Rosso, he has produced two of his best performances in Spain and Monaco.
That very much has him on the radar for a future promotion back alongside Verstappen most likely at Red Bull and also Ferrari are thought to be adding him to their list.
But if Williams could attract his services first he would bring his talent and someone worthy of challenging the big three.
Ultimately it is up to Claire Williams and the rest at Grove to decide their future line-up. Even Felipe Massa isn’t ruling out staying on for another year, but for a team some say have shied away from risks in recent times this would be one well worth taking.
