My Formula 1 Blog » Williams

Williams acquire Automotive Hybrid Power

F1fan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:27:32 +0000

Autosport.com is reporting that the Williams Formula One team have have acquired a minority stake in Automotive Hybrid Power Limited, a company developing high-energy composite flywheels for use in energy recovery systems.

The move comes ahead of the expected introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems (KERS) in the sport from next season.

Automotive Hybrid Power is developing a flywheel for potential use next year, although the team said they are exploring a number of energy storage options.

The Hybrid Power system is based on a flywheel rotating at speeds of up to 100,000rpm that would capture this energy for later release.

“High-energy flywheel technology is a challenging field of engineering,” said team co-owner Patrick Head.

Who is going to be third?

F1fan — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:04:36 +0000

A number of teams think they are going to be third in the constructors championship this year. Jarno Trulli says that Toyota can be fighting for third, Mario Theissen believes his team have broken free of the midfield pack and will maintain their position as third best behind McLaren and Ferrari, and Sam Michael at Williams believes that his team can be fighting for podiums.

My money is on BMW, and Wiliams beating the Toyota (even though they have the same engines).

2008 Standings (My Picks)

F1fan — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:28:37 +0000

It has been an interesting pre-season this year with a number of teams talking up their chances. Williams has contunially been talking about how good their car is this season with Sam Michaels, Patrick Head, and even Frank Williams talking about their chances. Given they have a very good driver in Nico Rosberg, maybe things will be better this year. I hope so.

Jarno Trulli has also been talking about how good the Toyota TF108 is this year. Given their budget, and the mandates coming from Japan, they need to do better. David Coulthard has also been discussing how good his Red Bull car is this year.

Given these discussions, here are my picks for 2008.

Drivers Championship

Lewis Hamilton
Kimi Raikkonen
Felipe Massa
Heikki Kovalainen
Nico Rosberg

Constructors Championship

McLaren
Ferrari
Williams
BMW Sauber
Renault

Rosberg stays cautious on Williams form

F1fan — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 14:08:49 +0000

As reported at Autosport.com, Nico Rosberg thinks that it is still going to take Williams another year to return to front-running form in Formula One, despite the team’s impressive pre-season testing build up.

The new FW30 has emerged as one of the leading contenders to be ‘best-of-the-rest’ behind Ferrari and McLaren, thanks in part to BMW Sauber’s difficulties, but the team have consistently played down their chances for the new season.

And although Rosberg and teammate Kazuki Nakajima have enjoyed another strong week of testing at Barcelona this week, the mood in the team has not changed.

When asked if he felt winning with Williams was possible, he said: “I hope so. That would be the dream to make it with Williams. We need to make a step this year and then another big step next year.

“We will have our chance next year. There is such a big rule change that everybody has a chance. It’s going to completely mix it up again. That’s the big chance that we need to take as team Williams.”

New Williams FW30 makes track debut

F1fan — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 15:35:55 +0000

As reported at Autosport.com, the new Williams FW30 was unveiled at the Valencia circuit on Monday before completing an installation lap as fog covered the Spanish circuit.

German test driver Nico Hulkenberg was the man in charge of completing the first run with the new car from the British squad, who will not hold an official launch this year.

Williams could complete just one lap as the circuit was closed due to the thick fog, which made it impossible for drivers to see the track properly.

McLaren Brazil appeal deemed inadmissible

F1fan — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 20:41:46 +0000

As reported at Formula1.com, the McLaren appeal has been rejected. The reason given is not that they were wrong, only that they were not allowed to appeal. Therefore, Williams and BMW get to break the rules with no retribution, and Ferrari get another world championship handed to them by the FIA. Grandprix.com has a good line on this story. Formula 1 is getting to be a joke because of the FIA’s mis-management and favouritism. Williams and BMW’s should have been disqualified from the Brazilian GP because they broke the rules on fuel temperature and gained an advantage from the breach. Hamilton should not have been moved up, and therefore Kimi would have retained the drivers championship. Instead, the FIA said it was a non-event. Ridiculous.

Alonso and McLaren part ways (what a surprise)

F1fan — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:05:57 +0000

As reported in Autosport and PitPass, Alonso and McLaren have agreed to part ways. Alonso’s manager is saying that no money has changed hands, but this is hard to believe. Why would McLaren let Alonso go for nothing, only to go to a competitor. There are rumours that Alonso can only go to a privateer team for the duration of his McLaren contract (Williams, Red Bull, Spyker, or Toro Rosso). The real surprise is going to be where he ends up. My money is on a swap for Rosberg with Alonso going to Williams.

Williams posts £28 million loss

F1fan — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:00:34 +0000

As reported on PitPass, a report by Christian Sylt in the Daily Telegraph has revealed that Williams made a massive £28m loss in 2006. This article makes for interesting reporting.