The Austrian Grand Prix was a throwback weekend in more ways than one. Formula 1 was returning there for the first time since 2003 and just four drivers lining up for the race had driven at the circuit previously.
Austria had played host to only the third of Williams’ 114 grand prix victories (only Ferrari and McLaren boast more wins in F1) back in 1979 and, while yesterday’s race did not quite play out to give race win 115, it was the clearest in¬dication that Williams, once THE force in F1, were back where they belong at the front.
The front-row lock-out in qualifying by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas was reminiscent of the glory days with Frank Williams at the helm.
They are still off the pace of Mercedes – had Lewis Hamilton not made errors then pole would certainly have been his – but this is no flash in the pan. Take Massa alone, who ended up at the Red Bull Ring in fourth come the end of the 71-lap distance.
There could have been a podium for him in Australia had Kamui Kobayashi not driven him out of the race. Then came the podium-denying safety car in Bahrain, that woeful pitstop in China and the late crash with Sergio Perez at the Canadian Grand Prix when eyeing a top-three finish.
Luck has not been on his side for the most part but there is a sense that a race win is just around the corner, all the more remarkable considering last year was so woeful, the team ending up with a mere five points. So how exactly have they gone from back–markers to nigh-on front–runners?
Arguably, the most basic difference is the Mercedes engine – new for them in 2014 and clearly the best power unit currently in F1.
Thanks for that has to go to Patrick Head, who pushed the board to ensure a deal was signed with Mercedes, as it turns out an immensely shrewd move.
But it is also down to the people that have been recruited. Most tellingly is Pat Symonds, who had been persona non grata in F1 after the Crashgate scandal at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
His world championship-winning knowledge as technical chief has been immense. It has also led to a complete restructuring of the engineering department – Jakob Andreasen coming from Force India to head up engineering operations, coupled with Craig Wilson from Mercedes, Lotus duo Rod Nelson and Dave Wheater, Shaun Whitehead, formerly of Red Bull, and Massa’s former race engineer Rob Smedley, who is now Williams’ head of vehicle performance.
It takes time to reap the benefits of new key personnel in F1 so there is a genuine belief behind the scenes that Williams’ upward trajectory is just the start and great¬er things are to follow.
Finances are another issue from the money banked from the Venezuelan government despite Pastor Maldonado leaving the team to the title sponsor deal with Martini.
Ok, Williams as an independent team do not have the financial clout of, say, Mercedes or Ferrari but they again have the necessary funding to put up a good fight.
The driver line–up is also worth mentioning, the youthful exuberance of Bottas allied with the maturity of Massa proving to be the perfect mix with the popular Brazilian freed of the shackles of Ferrari and the disregard in which he was sometimes held.
The car isn’t perfect. In a straight line, it is potentially quicker than the Mercedes, but it is a shade behind in terms of downforce which means the aforementioned drivers aren’t able to quite put the same faith in the high-speed corners that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg can with the Mercs. And the team are not perfect either.
Their pitstops have been costly and again that was the case at the Red Bull Ring but, despite that, this was still a bright weekend.
Smedley made a point in Austria that the weekend cannot be a one-off for the team.
“We have to do it every weekend not just once in a blue moon,” he said.
They have just one race victory in 10 years – that of Maldonado at the Spanish Grand Prix in 2012 – but there is a genuine belief that could be about to change, that the hegemony of Mercedes could yet be broken and that Williams rather than Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull will be the ones to do it.
