We have Identified Our Weaknesses: Claire Williams

Williams have had a terrible 2018 season so far, with both of their rookie drivers unable to squeeze anything out of a seemingly outdated car. Stroll is in his second season while it is Sirotkin’s debut in F1.

They lie at the bottom of the constructors’ championship with just one points-scoring finish, an 8 place by Stroll at Azerbaijan. His Russian teammate’s situation is even worse, with him being the only driver yet to score points this season.

Claire Williams, who took over after her father, Frank, stepped down has admitted that some tough decisions need to be taken. “In order to effect change, you need to make some hard decisions and we are going through that process at the moment”, Williams said.

She went on to reveal that they have made efforts to identify what has actually gone wrong with the team. “As we’ve gone through this recovery programme, we’ve identified a number of other weaknesses within the car and the team itself”, she said.

“You don’t get to tenth without having a number of issues,” Williams added. “I think it’s probably clear to see that our aerodynamic package is probably the key to that.”

“Unlocking the issues we have around the aero performance of our car is going to be critical to moving us forward.”

“We are undertaking a full evaluation of our internal structures and processes. We haven’t completed that work yet, so we don’t have any news to announce. But it’s mostly about identifying the talent that we do have in-house”, she added.

Williams also admitted that the struggles affected her personally too, with the F1 team name synonymous with her and her father’s name.

“Every team in any sport goes through those moments. Personally for me it’s incredibly difficult to see the team go through this,” she said.

“We all hold our hands up and take responsibility and not least I have a part to play in that and we must all look at ourselves and make sure we’re doing the best job that we possibly can for this team because this team deserves to stay in Formula One”, she concluded.