1 Racing Mind’s Formula 1 Season Ending Team Report Card: Williams Racing

Photo Credit: Steven Tee/ LAT Images/ Pirelli

 

Team Grade: C-

Overall Season: 

With the year of 2020 has been tough time for almost everyone, the Williams Racing team and its personnel were almost a financial casualty what ended up being a more than three-month delay in the Formula 1 season. With a sale of the team in August securing at least the short-term future of the organization, founder Sir Frank Williams as well as his daughter and deputy team principal Claire Williams left the team ahead of the middle of the season. The new Dorilton Capital ownership will continue to use the Williams team name as well as the FW designation for race cars. 

As off-track issues for the team were in the process of being resolved, the team arrived at the season opener in Austria with sophomore Formula 1 driver George Russell paired Canadian Nicholas Latifi who finished runner-up in the Formula 2 championship in 2019. For the first time since the team’s opening season in 1977, Williams Racing finished a Formula 1 season without a constructors’ championship point. Despite the fact Williams Racing finished 2019 with a point, this year’s on-track performance appeared more improved.

Achievements During 2020 Season: 

Although Williams Racing failed to score championship points during the 2020 calendar, the team did come close to a coveted top-10 finish. The organization’s drivers finished in 11th place in four grand prix events (three times by Latifi and once by Russell). A major shining moment for Williams Racing and their FW43 race car was George Russell in qualifying. In 9 of 17 grand prix events, Russell escaped the initial Q1 session in qualifying often outrunning Alfa Romeo Racing and Haas F1 Team vehicles for the short, timed outings on Saturday.

Shortcomings During 2020 Season:  

Although the 2020 performance by the team showed improvements on-track compared to the 2019 season, Williams Racing’s best efforts were still well off the pace of the team’s efforts five years ago. The main reason for the team’s finishes of 11th place were race retirements of fellow competitors. With close not being close enough to gain constructors’ points this year as neither George Russell or Nicholas Latifi were given a chance to mount a true fight against on-track competition.

Team's Drivers

#63 George Russell: B+

Photo Credit: Glenn Dunbar/ LAT Images/ Pirelli

Overall Season:

 In his second full year of competition in the top open wheel racing series, 2018 Formula 2 champion George Russell spent much of the 2020 season in the latter half of the race field. Despite not being within the top 10 for the majority of the year, Russell garnered a great deal of attention for his ability behind the wheel of a lower tier race car. His expertise has been on full display during qualifying for several grand prix events successfully mustering runs in the FW43 race car that allowed him to escape the Q1 session. 

Achievements During 2020 Season: 

The best qualifying placement for George Russell for 2020 came at the Hungarian Grand Prix where he and his Williams Racing team claimed 12th place. The Brit’s best finish of the year came at the one-off Tuscan Grand Prix at the 5.245-kilometer Mugello circuit where he was behind the 10th place Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel late but lost ground as the 59-lap race concluded. George Russell’s season performance with Williams Racing has been overshadowed by his effort with the Mercedes-AMG team.

Shortcomings During 2020 Season: 

Though George Russell displayed a remarkable amount of competence in his sophomore year, his 2020 campaign with Williams was not without a few follies. The most unfortunate mishap for Russell came at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix held on Italy’s Imola circuit. During a safety car period in the latter stage of the event caused by a tire failure on Max Verstappen’s Honda-powered Red Bull race car, Russell was running in 10th place. As Russell was waiving his vehicle in order to warm his tires, the British driver spun and crashed into the track barrier. Potentially the best chance for a Williams point finish in 2020, the effort ended in an embarrassing retirement. 

#6 Nicholas Latifi: C+

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton/ LAT Images/ Pirelli

Overall Season: 

Representing one of two driver changes for the 2020 Formula 1 season, Canada’s Nicholas Latifi was the only rookie competitor to take the grid for the 17-race schedule. Combining factors such as his rookie status in general, the complications of COVID-19 in starting this year’s race season and the instability of Williams Racing earlier this year, it could be argued Latifi faced a more difficult than normal freshman start in Formula 1 competition. Although the 2019 runner-up in Formula 2 appeared to struggle to match pace in qualifying with teammate George Russell, race results were respectable considering the situation. Latifi finished 11th on three occasions and failed to finish in only three races.  

Achievements During 2020 Season: 

The only rookie involved in the 2020 Formula 1 tour, Nicholas Latifi had a rough initial outing as a new pilot installed in a struggling team during an uncertain year. Latifi’s first season in the series involved starting around the back of the grid for almost every event but also contained some steady race performances. Incredibly, three of the four 11th place finishes by Williams Racing were achieved by the Canadian. 

Shortcomings During 2020 Season:  

Latifi’s overall performance in qualifying lagged behind his teammate George Russell in every event in the season. The Turkish Grand Prix was one of the more miserable outings for Nicholas Latifi. After a Saturday qualifying that started with a wet and slippery Q1 session where many drivers struggled, Latifi was unable to record a clean timed lap. Allowed by the race stewards to start the 58-lap main feature from pit lane, the Canadian was finished Sunday's event in 19th place retiring due to crash damage.

#89 Jack Aitken (Round 16): C+ 

Overall Season: 

A 25-year-old British-Korean driver with career accolades including the 2015 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 championship and a second-place overall result in the 2017 GP3 Series, Jack Aitken has spent the past three years as a Formula 1 reserve driver. After two years as a back-up and test driver with Renault, Aitken joined the Williams Racing team in 2020 and would be granted his first Formula 1 series start at the Sakhir Grand Prix as George Russell was called over to the Mercedes-AMG race team. Jack Aitken’s debut outing went as expected with a lower-tier team but also contained an unexpected element. 

Achievements During 2020 Season: 

In his first Formula 1 start, Jack Aitken ran admirably for a driver called up from the Williams Racing reserve role to race with less than a week’s notice at a largely unfamiliar track 3.543-kilometer ‘Outer Circuit’ at the Bahrain International Circuit. In qualifying for the Sakhir Grand Prix, Aitken was less than a tenth of a second slower than Nicholas Latifi. Completing all 87 laps of the race in Bahrain, the driver piloting the #89 car crossed the finish line in 16th place. 

Shortcomings During 2020 Season:  

Although Jack Aitken’s first start ended with the a finish, his debut with Williams Racing did ultimately have an unperceived impact one of the race team’s regular drivers. On lap 61 of the Sakhir Grand Prix, Aitken spun his Williams on the circuit’s 11th turn and lost his front wing colliding with a barrier. Though Aitken continued to the pit for a new front component, the debris of the incident drew a virtual safety car that would later become a full safety car. Williams Racing’s season-long driver George Russell was leading the event in a Mercedes-AMG race car at the moment of the changing race condition. While by no means intended and certainly also not to blame for the Mercedes-AMG’s pit stop disaster that happened two laps later, the aftermath of Jack Aitken’s spin created circumstances contributing to Russell missing out on a Formula 1 victory.

1 Racing Mind’s 2020 Formula 1 Mid-Season Team Report Card: Williams Racing

Photo Credit: Mark Sutton LAT Images/Pirelli

Team Grade: C

Driver’s Grade 

George Russell: B-

Nicholas Latifi: C

Summary of First Nine Races:

An organization who has won nine Formula 1 Constructors Championship titles and crossed the line first in 114 grand prix races since 1977, Williams Racing Formula 1 team’s performance in recent years has been far detached from its glorious history. The once-dominant team has been regularly spotted at the rear of the running order for grand prix events in 2019 due to many factors including a lower operating budget compared to teams at the front of the grid as well as bumbled development of the FW42 race car. As the on-track product suffered, the delay of the 2020 season caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic magnified off-track woes for Williams Racing. In addition to splitting from team title sponsor ROKiT, the organization posted a large financial loss in May of this year. To was at that point mention of partnership or even total sale of the Williams Racing team was first floated.

Despite operational challenges, Williams Racing arrived for the season opening Formula 1 race in Austria with British pilot George Russell and rookie Canadian driver Nicholas Latifi. Although Williams Racing had scored a point in the constructors’ championship by this time last year, the 2020 on-track performance for the team has been mildly better. Russell’s pace in qualifying for several early events in the season showed the Mercedes-Benz powered FW43 was able to potentially enter the Q2 session. The Styrian Grand Prix and the Hungarian Grand Prix were season-best qualifying outings for George Russell after nine races starting 12th on both occasions. 

Nicholas Latifi’s first season in Formula 1 has involved a great deal of time in the back of the field. The Canadian has been outpaced by his more experienced teammate in all nine qualifying events this season. Finishing 11th on two occasions (largely due to running in events with high attrition), Latifi had been recorded as finishing all races this season until his first retirement being caught up in the multi-car wreck at the Tuscan Grand Prix.

Prediction for Rest of the 2020 Season:

Taking to the grid for the 2020 Formula 1 season was a challenge itself for the Williams Racing team. A sale to US-based Dorilton Capital announced in late August allowed the organization to obtain its most important goal; the team’s survival. 

While the new owners are committed to retaining the team’s name and other heritage features including the ‘FW’ designation in their chassis, the race group is moving on without team founder Sir Frank Williams or its Deputy Team Principal Claire Williams. With the Tuscan Grand Prix being the start of establishing a new era for a new Williams Racing, it’s difficult to imagine any major improvements will be made throughout the remainder of 2020 to left the team up the grid. Running powerful Mercedes-Benz power is not a guarantee for success for the team as it is for the factory Mercedes AMG or even Racing Point. Williams Racing’s best chance at a championship point for the 2020 season may come in events where a high level of race retirements will occur.