1 Racing Mind 2015 Formula 1 Mid-season Report Card: Williams Martini Racing

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO X PIRELLI

Williams Martini Racing

 

Team Score: C

 

Felipe Massa: C+

Valtteri Bottas: B

The Williams Martini Racing's 2014 season was seen as a very positive year. Making the right move by choosing the Mercedes-Benz power unit last season, the team has enjoyed near-equal pace with the factory Mercedes AMG organization. Williams Martini Racing's effort biggest success was a pole for the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix. With many expecting a race victory for the team in 2014, 2015 has featured high hopes for Williams. Though a productive Formula 1 campaign in the first 10 races this season, it may not be unfair to say some were looking for bigger things from the Williams-Mercedes race cars in 2015. 

There seemed to be no fault in the decision to preserve the driver line-up after the 2014 season. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas performed well last season and have continued to be consistent for 2015. Both Massa and Bottas have appeared on the podium with a third place finish Unfortunately, the 2015 Williams-Mercedes race car appeared is lacking the front-running pace that was presented with the 2014 vehicle.

Similar to last year, the Williams Martini Racing team's progression back to the victory lane has shown periods of weakness. Slow, handling-focused circuits such as Monaco and the Hungaroring concluded with no points being scored by either race car. In the British Grand Prix, Williams driver Massa snatched the lead from the Mercedes AMG race cars in the early stages but faded to fourth. In the second scenario, race conditions contributed to result but the finish left many within the team disappointed. Bad luck for the Williams Martini Racing also occurred at the opening round in Australia when Valtteri Bottas suffered a back injury that sidelined him for the round.

Still showing potential, the Williams-Mercedes has shown reliability and Felipe Massa has finished in the top-10 for all but two races this season. Last year by the tenth race, Massa had three DNFs. Despite missing a race, the young Bottas continues to impress currently in fourth place in the overall points standing. As a team, Williams is holding steady in third-place in the manufacturers' points.

Ingredients for Second-Half of 2015:

Last year, Williams Martini Racing's season enjoyed a very productive second-half of the schedule that resulted in six of nine podiums for 2014. With the strong Mercedes-Benz hybrid power unit and a Williams engineers that can provide a quick, well-engineered vehicle, there could be still be potential for the team to steal a win in 2015 figuring a little fortune finds the team.