gav Wrote:
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> I don't think Williams have made big strides performance wise.
> Take away what I expect is a freakish Austrian GP
> and they're still a second slower than Mercedes.
> They were around a second back from Mercedes
> (probably a touch more) last season and they're
> probably a little under a second back this year.
> They might have moved forward a couple of tenths
> over the winter. They've generally overtaken
> Force India (though are currently behind on
> points) and we know how poor McLaren are, but but
> if all the other teams had Mercedes engines I
> think Williams might just about scrape into the
> top 10 here and there.
I disagree. I think Austria was the first race this year where the Williams car has realised its full potential, and their season is still gathering momentum. It was clear from the first race that it was a strong car with great natural speed. Bahrain was, IMO, the first race where its potential really started being unlocked. After a few frustrating near misses since then, this was the first weekend where I thought they maxed out and optimised the car's performance
and translated it into a representative result, but I think the car has potential to get even better. Claire and the team have done a brilliant job, and it's still getting steadily stronger. I think they're genuinely starting to close up on Mercedes, and considering that their car is more solid and reliable than the Mercedes when pushed hard, it means this could be the first of a string of podiums rather than a freak one-off. They might even snatch a win at some point if Merc have another race like Canada.
Unless I'm very much mistaken! :P
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2014 06:01PM by EC83.