Tyrrell, Lotus and Brabham: illustrious racing names that were once among the bedrock of Formula 1. But sentiment counts for little when form and financial clout go astray. In the space of six years in the 1990s, all three plunged out of grand prix racing. Brabham and Lotus simply ran out of oxygen, while Ken Tyrrell clung on before accepting the inevitable and selling his entry to the brash, ambitious, tobacco-backed British American Racing. Now Williams stands on the precipice, staring into the same abyss.
Such a fate would have once seemed unthinkable for a team that has nine constructors’ and seven drivers’ titles behind it and still only falls short of Ferrari and McLaren in the list of all-time grand prix winners. But just as it was for its defunct old rivals by the end, the odds now seem stacked against the Williams name remaining on the grid beyond the near future.
As recently as 2014 and 2015, Williams was F1’s third-best team, but the return to back-of-the-grid ignominy was hard, fast and painful. The team has looked hopeless these past two seasons, with little obvious sign of from where a revival might be summoned. Prestigious title sponsor Martini, the drinks company that has its own illustrious racing heritage, lost faith at the end of 2018, and emerging mobile phone firm Rokit has just quit after one season. It looks bleak, and now Williams has officially gone public on its plight.
In search of a buyer
“The financial results for 2019 reflect the recent decline in competitiveness of the F1 operation and the consequent reduction in commercial rights income,” said Williams CEO Mike O’Driscoll in an annual report released recently that revealed a £13 million loss for 2019. “After four years of very solid performance during which we claimed two third and two fifth place finishes, we endured a couple of very difficult seasons.”
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Told you so!
There, the great F1 supporters just don't support, I said only three, well four if you count mine...twice!
I'll make it four, just to
What is this about?
A lot of writing about actual teams and then trying to conflate them with some computer game ending. There have been countless teams that have come and gone in F1 over the years like Minardi and the Lambourghini just name a few the team James Hunt won with is no more, FI except Ferarri is a "whack-a-mole" type deal, Renault have been in and out so have BMW, Pesrsonnally I believe that CGI gaming is a certain way to loose support for F1. Not what I expect from a motoring magazine unless you are going to start advertising for EA sports and the rest of it.
What is F1 really?
F1 isn't what it used to be, it's all about the show, what goes on before the race on Sunday, I bet the drivers are fed up being told you have to do this that, press the flesh, talk to people for the sake of corporate business, woo potential investors, all F1 drivers want to do is drive, win, be the best, millions is spent on developing cars that only run on a track, I can't recall any tech that made it into, onto a road car?, and then there's the cost for the punters to go and see an F1 race, F1 certainly isn't a sport for all, and especially in the last ten years or so money has become an issue for most of us, I don't see any reduced tickets for the home GP for instance, you get a good gauge of how interested the UK are by how little attention posters on this site, the odd time there's an article up, it maybe gets two or three posts, so we're going to have races this year, a mini championship, should it count though?, should the media company donate the gate entry to the NHS?, share the prize money evenly among the teams this year?, like I said, F1 isn't want used too be.