Cast your mind back twelve months, Williams were ninth in the Constructors’ Championship with zero points. A year later, they have 56 points and sit sixth in the Constructors’ Championship. Their highest placed finish came at the Spanish Grand Prix with Bottas finishing fifth. But what has changed for the Grove based team?
The introduction of the Mercedes power unit is widely regarded as the main reason why Williams are consistently fighting the likes of Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren however there are other reasons to explain impressive speed thus far in 2014. The arrival of Felipe Massa has certainly galvanised the team – a man who has won 11 Grand Prix and on his day beaten the likes of Fernando Alonso, Kimi Raikkonen and Michael Schumacher. The Brazilian is fast approaching his 200th Grand Prix showing that he has a lot of experience which can benefit the team and his younger teammate Bottas.
Several new team personnel have joined the team. Most notably, Rob Smedley joined from Ferrari as head of vehicle performance which once again added experience and strengthened Williams’ technical team. Financially the team are secure with test driver Felipe Nasr contributing with Brazilian sponsorship and the return to the Martini colours has also benefitted the team. Despite these positive changes, it is fair to say that Williams have underperformed in 2014. In pre-season testing, Williams were the second fastest team behind Mercedes however various circumstances have meant that they are yet to deliver their true potential
A wet qualifying in Australia meant that they qualified out of position with Massa lining up ninth and Bottas tenth – on the basis of Q1 (which was dry) Massa was third quickest behind the two Mercedes indicating that they had speed in dry conditions. Come race day, Massa was taken out by Kamui Kobayashi forcing the Brazilian to retire. Bottas had a strong race to finish fifth however the Finnish driver made a costly mistake brushing the wall which caused damage on the rear of the car forcing him to make an unscheduled pit stop. Had he not had this mistake, it is likely he would have finished on the podium.
Qualifying in Malaysia was also wet and once again the FW36 struggled for rear end grip. The race was underwhelming with the major talking point being team orders. Massa was asked by the team to move over for Bottas as the latter was on fresher tyres and subsequently marginally quicker. Massa did not move over and eventually came home seventh with Bottas just behind.
The first dry qualifying of the season in Bahrain showed that the Williams pace was not a myth. Bottas was third and Massa seventh. By the end of the first lap, Massa was third and Bottas fifth however the race did not go to plan. Excessive tyre wear and a late safety car meant that both drivers dropped behind both Force India’s and both Red Bull’s. A pit stop problem for Massa in China followed by a poor strategy choice in Spain cost the team further points however Bottas did shine at Barcelona finishing a joint-career best fifth place.
Canada has been their biggest missed opportunity. Friday practice showed that the Williams car was consistently second quickest behind the Mercedes however Vettel pipped them to third on the grid. In the race, Massa suffered a slow first pit-stop which dropped him behind Fernando Alonso and Jean-Eric Vergne. Bottas’ race took a turn for the worst with the Finn pitting too early for his final pit-stop which saw him drop behind Ricciardo – the eventual race winner. His race was further compromised with a technical glitch which allowed Alonso and Button to pass him. Massa was on track to finish fifth however a collision with Sergio Perez on the final lap forced both cars to retire. This would have been the team’s best finish since the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix had Massa passed Perez who was suffering with rear brake issues.
It was a similar situation in 2012 where Williams had a strong car however Maldonado threw away big points finishes with a crash with Hamilton in Valencia for example. Despite having a quicker car than both Force India and McLaren, they sit behind them in the Constructors’ Championship. They have the car and have two quick drivers however they need to starting delivering results which the car deserves. Fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship is there in the taking however they need to cut-out mistakes and achieve a perfect weekend.
