When I think of Williams I see them as the cool Grandad of Formula One.
Sure they have been around for a while and would enjoy long evenings in front of the fire and play golf, but 20 weekends a year they travel around the world going hell for leather around awesome racetracks.
Some would argue that McLaren is the true British gentleman’s team but nowadays they’ve become all techy and nerdy whereas Williams still focus predominantly on racing.
In their prime, the Grove outfit was the best on the grid, the plucky underdog beating the Italian might of Ferrari as well as Benetton and McLaren.
Since their last championship in 1997, however, they haven’t quite been able to recapture the same success.
They continued winning with BMW power in the early 2000’s but slowly McLaren and Ferrari began to eek away.
When the BMW partnership ended in 2005, the team descended into a slump not too dissimilar to that McLaren have endured the last three years, loitering in the lower midfield.
2012 saw the team score their first win in eight years as Pastor Maldonado produced one of the shocks of the century to triumph in Spain and in recent years things have looked up.
An engine supply deal with Mercedes from 2014 launched Williams back to the front and they have finished third in the Constructors’ championship the last two years.
With Williams’ external interests in hybrid and electric power systems also helping the team, it has almost been a case of F1’s cool Grandad learning new tricks in a bid to rekindle the success from years gone by, but a lack of financial clout has prevented them from really challenging the ‘big three’ of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.
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That was, arguably, until last week when they announced the somewhat controversial appointment of Lance Stroll as the new teammate alongside Valtteri Bottas.
While some have pointed to his Formula 3 success this year, which has been highly impressive, most have focused on a large amount of financial backing that his signature will bring the team.
Reports have put the figure at a whopping $80 million that Stroll’s billionaire father Lawrence has paid to secure his son the seat, dwarfing figures even the aforementioned Maldonado used to offer from Venezuelan oil giant PDVSA.
Clearly, the combination of success in a junior formula and a major financial boost was too much for Williams to turn down and ultimately it may turn out to be one of the smartest decisions the team will ever make.
When it became clear Felipe Massa was going to retire at the end of the year, the team’s first target was Jenson Button.
A perfectly good driver, but much like Massa in the twilight and indeed, soon to see the sun set on his career.
I wrote an article back in June talking about how Williams should opt for a young talent who his highly motivated and can drive the team forwards, now with Stroll and Bottas the team has exactly that.
Also, the current political climate in F1 means very little is being done to equalise the massive spending gap between the top teams and those towards the back.
So while it may go against their traditional ethos and might not be terribly popular with fans, the simple fact is if you can’t beat them, join them and for Williams, if that figure of $80 million is accurate, it could go a long way to increasing the pace of 2017 development.
It could also be highly beneficial in closing the gap to the ‘big three’, maybe even offering a chance to compete with them.
So a young, hungry driver line-up and a few extra million in the bank account, ultimately it was a no-brainer for Williams and now puts them in a stronger position going forward in the future.
The change back to a more aero-dependent formula also helps the team, as it allows them an avenue to counteract any engine deficit to the works Mercedes team by having a better chassis.
Of course, all of this doesn’t guarantee they will be a major threat in the coming years. Personally, I see them battling with Ferrari and McLaren just behind a leading duo of Red Bull and Mercedes next year, but in making the bold decision to take on Stroll, it will eventually lead to a change that sees Williams become a greater force to be reckoned with.
Certainly, there is hope for greater success than there would have been if their traditional conservative approach had prevailed and the team ended up with Jenson Button.
