Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win in the desert (Picture: Reuters)

Lewis Hamilton has been looking like a lost little boy in the weeks following his break up with Nicole Scherzinger, barely cracking a smile even when he grabbed pole in Korea.

But I would bet he laughed so hard his chin-strap broke when he saw  Sebastian Vettel pirouette in a cloud of tyre smoke ahead of him as they stormed into Turn 2 on Sunday.

Victory in Abu Dhabi gave Lewis the lift his fragile ego badly needed.For Vettel, it was a most unwelcome surprise.

The German had enjoyed perfect reliability for the last 19 races – of which he has won a staggering 13 – but a right rear puncture caused by a small yet sharp piece of debris on the exit kerb converted his record-equalling 14th pole position of the season into an early bath.

A fatherly hug from Bernie Ecclestone back in the garage will have cheered him up, though, and before the race he was given a bass guitar by his hero, Sir Paul McCartney (pictured), so he is not going home empty-handed.

Abu Dhabi’s previous races were like watching paint dry but a double-DRS zone this year, combined with Pirelli’s unpredictable rubber, added plenty of drama to the 2011 show.

But backmarkers ignoring blue flags were a prob-lem – for Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in particular – and Pastor Maldonado should have been black-flagged after he was the subject of a second investigation.

Sir Frank Williams has pretty much confirmed ‘Moneybags’ Maldonado will stay, despite some fairly unprofessional driving standards in his rookie season, while Rubens  Barrichello – the most experienced campaigner in F1 history – is likely to get the boot at the end of the year.

‘I am sure Pastor will be in one of them [our cars, next year]. Rubens maybe,’ Williams said.

Former champion Kimi Raikkonen’s management soaked up Williams’ hospitality at the Emirate, adding weight to talk the Finn will make his F1 comeback with the once great, now struggling, British team.

That’s music to the ears of young Valtteri Bottas.

The talented GP3 champion is a reserve driver with Williams and I’ll bet my paddock pass if his countryman Raikkonen signs for next year he’ll have quit by the halfway point – handing the seat to his  understudy.

Back to McCartney, who played a three-hour set after the race. Eddie Jordan looked a fool when he interviewed the Beatle for the BBC and, signing off, said ‘thanks George’.

At least he didn’t call him Ringo. Asked by German TV if he had a message for their boy Vettel, Sir Paul replied: ‘Let one of the Brits win.’ That was Hamilton’s ticket to ride.Emirates flies from six UK airports non-stop to Dubai with a choice of 15 flights every day.

Onboard, passengers can enjoy state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment, meals produced by leading chefs and some of the finest wines available.An Economy Class return flight with Emirates from London Gatwick to Dubai costs from £449 – for information and reservations, please visit http://www.emirates.com/uk

One of the Full of Life events taking place on 1st October includes celebrations with

The actor, who played the vicar, the Revered Timothy Farthing, in the hit 1970s BBC comedy, (the writer David Croft, who has sadly recently passed away at the age of 89) will be on hand to launch Veneratio – a brand new initiative set up to promote Kent and South London’s elderly  population.

Veneratio promotes greater community interaction & social events such as arts classes, interest groups, film evenings, talks with visiting speakers and even policy discussion meetings.

Bethany Russell, founder and director of Veneratio said: “Veneratio is not a flash in the pan, but a long-term project and it will be an honour to see Mr. Williams at the launch. We want to have a really fun, varied party so as to rocket-launch Veneratio in the way in which it should continue.”

Guests are invited to attend New Life Church Hall, Biggin Hill
from 4pm on October 1. Tickets are £5, with all proceeds going to Veneratio.

Contact info@veneratio.org.uk for more information.

As far as athletes go, Ayrton Senna is by far my favorite one of all-time, across all sports, in pretty much every single criteria you can apply to said decision. The guy was just fearless, a true master of his sport and fantastic human being behind it all. His untimely death at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which happened while he was leading the race, only adds to the legend of Senna. You hear drivers past and present talk about him as god amongst them all, as the guy who would do anything for a win, even risk his own life and the lives of others, but who was also an amazing humanitarian, and one time even stopped his car mid-race and ran across the track, risking his life as other cars zoomed by, only to help out a fellow driver who had crashed. That’s the sort of contradictions that marked the life of Senna, he would risk other people’s lives to win a race, but would risk his own, and lose the race, to help out a colleague.

Asif Kapadia’s masterful documentary is by far the greatest look into the man’s life you could ever wish for, one of the best documentaries I have ever seen, in fact, and you don’t really have to know all that much about Ayrton Senna to love this film, hell, you don’t even have to like Formula 1 to get absolutely immersed in this astonishing look at the greatest driver there ever was and ever will be. There’s not much you can say about Senna that hasn’t already been said, the guy donated millions of dollars to children’s charities in Brazil, his hometown where he was revered as a national hero, he won 3 world championships in 9 years, he had a 65 pole positions in just 162 races (a then-record for most pole positions which was broken by Schumacher in 2006, though the German took far more races to achieve it), he was voted at the greatest ever in his sport by a panel of over 200 of his peers. He achieved so much in so little time that it warrants that now you can have endless discussions about what could have been, about the lost potential. That’s the stuff that brings forth immortality, the brings forth legend.

And even though there’s not much left to be said about Ayrton Senna, this documentary manages to say all the great stuff in the best of ways, as it achieves a pacing that’s extraordinary for a documentary, and mostly because it manages to tell a story using cars and races and motors, but that at it’s core is a very human tale. It’s just a wonderful job what Mr. Kapadia and his team of editors have done here, they went through heaps of video tapes and clips, because Senna is a film constructed out of all sorts of archive footage, from interviews to home videos to footage from big races. And yet what it comes out looks as like any great fictional film you can think of from nowadays, with a tightly-constructed narrative about a boy who just wanted to drive racing cars, and who had to deal with a great deal of adversity both on and off the tracks, only to come out on top every single time, and always doing it on his own terms.

It also helps quite a bit that the story of Ayrton Senna sounds so much like a fantastic work of fiction. The man was a humble guy, religious to the bone and always super proud of his home country, a then-poverty-stricken nation who was lusting for a hero to call their own, and who got the perfect one in Senna. As for how he was in his chosen field, it’s even better, as he many times got in arguments about the political decisions that governed his sport, thinking that so much bureaucratic pandering hindered the sport he was so passionate about. It’s even appropriately cinematic that he had an arch-rival in Alain Prost, a guy who was also great on his own way, but that the movie makes seem as some sort of schemer who got along really well with the sports administration that Senna got into so much trouble with. It evidently wasn’t as clear-cut in real life as it’s made to look here, but that’s okay, because the vision Mr. Kapadia presents is too riveting to find any fault with.

It’s awesome to see those two sides of the man. He was a really sensitive man, always helpful and charming, a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve every single time, even when it could get him in trouble, a man who was in one of the most cut-throat environments imaginable but who always tried to tackle them head-on with decency and his dignity intact. That he was also such a relentless competitor who would do anything to win and would live to push cars beyond their limits only adds to the mysticism that surrounded him. It’s impossible not to feel for this man as you watch this film, not to absolutely love the fact that he was an impossibly moral man in world where morality had apparently long ceased to exist, and who, even though was in the highest form of competition his sport offered, would always long for the days in which he raced simple go-karts as a kid, only because money and politics weren’t involved in that at all.

The fact that a story that was already so unbelievable got to be told by a director as good as Mr. Kapadia is a gift to us as viewers. The guy is awesome at crafting some seriously well-honed sense of drama, a guy who gave a documentary about a race car driver the pacing of a superb thriller, and who had the best team of editors to instill in his vision the best narrative drive available, and even more amazing fact when you consider the 106 minutes of film you see here were taken from over 5’000 hours of footage, an editing process which took over a year and a half to complete. It was also a very wise choice not to show the interviews which he conducted in present day, but instead only using them as voice-over audio to aid the footage, that way we get a sense of his legacy while still being fully engaged to his life as he lived it. It’s just remarkable.

Senna is the best documentary I’ll see all year, and I say that without any knowledge of what may come in the next four months, I just seriously doubt anything will beat this one. The guy was my favorite athlete before seeing this film, and this only cements his position in my heart, the way his intensity is shown through footage, his passion, his altruistic sincerity, it’s all amazing. And then we get to his death, which Mr. Kapadia handles as perfectly as the rest of the material he shows us, with literally all of Brazil just heartbroken in mourning, the people at his funeral in a grief that you can actually feel because of how easy it gets to feel for Ayrton Senna after what you’ve just watched. When the film premiered at Sundance, the filmmakers talked about showing it to Ron Dennis, the head of McLaren who Senna raced for, and a man famous for being emotionally closed off and cool. They told the audience that after Mr. Dennis watched the film he cried for ten minutes and then proceeded to tell anecdotes about Senna for a couple of hours. Such was the power of Ayrton Senna, and you’ll need only to see this film to believe me.

Grade: A

Let’s try and bring some order to this mess, since the pressure is going to ratchet up starting Thursday when the first round of preseason games kicks off and the hot stove might cool a bit. Below are the lists of departures and arrivals for each of the 32 NFL teams and just what they mean for teams.

We’ll be going division by division, moving onto the NFC North.

Mason Crosby, still kicking for the defending Super Bowl champs. (Courtesy of Creative Commons)

Chicago Bears

Signed: DT Anthony Adams, RB Marion Barber, TE Desmond Clark, CB Corey Graham, QB Caleb Hanie, WR Sam Hurd, LB Brian Iwuh, DT Amobi Okoye, P Adam Podlesh, LB Nick Roach, TE Matt Spaeth, C Chris Spencer, WR Roy Williams

Lost: WR Devin Aromashodu, WR Rashied Davis, DT Tommie Harris, C Olin Kreutz, S Danieal Manning, P Brad Maynard

Diagnosis: The Bears’ offensive line should improve as part of what was the 29th best scoring offense in the league last year. Spencer (70 starts in five seasons) is an upgrade over Kreutz, while first-rounder Gabe Carimi is a typical Midwestern grass-fed giant at tackle. They exchange an old punter for a younger one, get some insurance for a Matt Forte holdout in Barber, and see the departure of Harris, long a mainstay of a stout defensive front who’d fallen out of favor. Most importantly, they surround the beleaguered Jay Cutler with a big target in Williams in addition to Hurd. The hope is that the offense will take enough small steps forward to pace a normally solid defense to the playoffs.

Detroit Lions

Signed: LB Bobby Carpenter, WR Rashied Davis, LB Justin Durant, FB Jerome Felton, C Dylan Gandy, CB Maurice Leggett, CB Brandon McDonald, K Dave Rayner, QB Drew Stanton, WR Maurice Stovall, LB Stephen Tullock, S John Wendling, CB Eric Wright, DE Keyunta Dawson, DT Montavious Stanley

Lost: DE Turk McBride

Diagnosis: The Lions believe they have a core that is solid and young enough to make only small changes. They give quarterback Matt Stafford, who they hope can remains healthy for more than five straight weeks, a couple new weapons in Stovall and Davis. Defensively, they were able to add veteran pieces to a great young core. Dawson adds depth to the line, Tullock is the middle linebacker who can captain the defense and strengthen the 24th-best rush defense in the league and they add depth at corner. If the Lions can stay healthy, they might be able to navigate a tough division for a surprise playoff bid.

Green Bay Packers

Signed: K Mason Crosby, WR James Jones, FB John Kuhn, WR Brett Swain, TE Spencer Hayner

Lost: LB Nick Barnett, G Daryn Colledge, FB Korey Hall, RB Brandon Jackson, DE Cullen Jenkins, TE Donald Lee, LB Brady Poppinga, G Jason Spitz, DT Justin Harrell

Diagnosis: The defending Super Bowl champs obviously felt they didn’t need to change much. With all the injuries they suffered through a season ago on the road to the Lombardi Trophy, they’re probably right. Having Ryan Grant healthy is like an acquisition on its own. They retain Jones and Swain, two of the many depth-providing wideouts, while Crosby is a key player to retain. The oft-injured Barnett and Poppinga aren’t big losses for a deep linebacker corps. Colledge and Jenkins were significant contributors, but the drafting of Derek Sherrod for the offensive line and the depth at linebacker in a 3-4 defense minimizes their impact. They managed a Super Bowl win with the league’s 24th-best rushing attack; with all their big contributors back, they’ll be fine even without many changes.

Minnesota Vikings

Signed: WR Devin Aromashodu, DT Remi Ayodele, OT Ryan Cook, DT Fred Evans, S Eric Frampton, LB Erin Henderson, WR Michael Jenkins, OT Charlie Johnson, K Ryan Longwell, QB Donovan McNabb

Lost: S Husain Abdullah, DE Ray Edwards, QB Tarvaris Jackson, WR Sidney Rice, CB Frank Walker, S Madieu Williams, OT Bryant McKinnie, DT Jimmy Kennedy

Diagnosis: The quarterbacking torch has been passed in Minnesota but not necessarily to whom most thought would receive it. Jackson is gone, while McNabb has blown into town to mentor/bridge to the Christian Ponder era. He finds the cast of offensive characters more limited, with Rice being replaced with Jenkins, a slight downgrade, and Aromashodu as a depth guy. The tackle position is changing hands, with the Vikes taking a chance on Johnson after he flopped in Indianapolis. Defensively, they lose two big safeties in Williams and Abdullah, eight-sack man Edwards and depth corner Williams. Ayodele is a nice addition to replace what Kennedy was unable to give them last year due to injury. The might not be as bad as last season, but the Vikings haven’t exactly been bullish in making changes.

After 15 years since the last race held under the name Williams Renault team led by “Old Papa” Frank Williams will restore collaboration with Renault that will provide engines starting with 2012 season.

“We are pleased and excited about our new partnership with Renault. Meanwhile we are grateful to the Cosworth for their support in recent years.”

“Our previous collaboration with Renault was one of the most successful in F1 history, but we remain grounded in the past too much. We have to look forward and continue rebuilding our reputation,” said Frank Williams.

Ayrton Senna was his generation’s best F1 driver, not to mention handsome, articulate and charismatic. He won three F1 championships and unquestionably his popularity in his native Brazil remains unrivalled by any other F1 driver. Most would agree that is was his ability to operate unflinchingly at speed that enabled him to win three championships.

We are taken taken chronologically through the Brazilian driver’s stellar track career, with a focus on the strained relationship between Senna and his arch-rival Alain Prost (portrayed as an almost cartoon-like villain).

The brilliantly edited film uses F1 archive footage and the Senna family’s home movies exclusively, most of it unseen. I was glad it contained no no visible talking heads or recreations and this often detracts from the action. With so much recorded footage of F1 available, it has been possible to fashion Senna’s story as a live action drama rather than a posthumous documentary; we’re not so much hearing what happened in the past as seeing it happen before our eyes.

Early on he refers to his days of go-cart competing as ‘pure racing’ without money and without politics, perhaps with the implication that he wishes he could go back. This is in keeping with the tone of the film as the viewer gets the impression that Senna is never quite happy in his role as F1 champion and national hero.

Of course, Senna is painted as whiter-than-white with Prost and Jean-Marie Balestre -the French president of FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, F1′s governing body) – well and truly the villains.

Reading other viewer’s opinions and looking what true F1 fans thought, it may be the case that some incidents were shown form a decidedly one-sided point of view, and that other relevant events were not missed out entirely – I’m not even going to pretend I know enough about it comment! But had they not been then we wouldn’t have a film, would we?

In looking at other reviews of the documentary Steve Rose of the Guardian claims that ‘you couldn’t have made a film like this about Nigel Mansell’, which I believe is true. Senna has something about him – a fascinating, contradictory mix of religious faith, boyish innocence, global celebrity and reckless determination – which, again, you don’t need to be an F1 fan to see.

Of course, all the way through the viewer is aware of the outcome and the inevitably tragic ending. In one scene Senna says that he still has ‘plenty of time’ to learn and to so the things he wants to do. However, after the death a day earlier of the Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger on the same San Marino circuit, there is the sense that Senna had premonitions of his own death. It is undeniably emotional, and whatever problems diehard F1 fans may have with the film, Senna was truly someone special both on and off the track.

A documentary on these fine pages? Never! Well you’d better believe it ‘cos it’s true. And this one is a sports documentary, a meeting of the geek’s film and the jock’s film. A bit like a hamburger with just lettuce in it or a sexy lady wearing a pantomime horse outfit. I’m not really sure what i’m talking about any more but the short and the long of it is Senna is a fantastic film. Much like Deep Water, a documentary about the round the world boat race that you really have to see if you haven’t already, this is action packed, thrilling at every turn and – almost unbelievably - true. Regardless of your feelings about Grand Prix racing or knowledge of the events (the less is probably the better) you will be completely taken in by this extraordinary story. Great stuff.

90%

Senna: documentary on Ayrton Senna – a Brazilian F1 racing driver and superstar – from the late 1980s to his career-ending bender in 1994. Director Asif Kapadia misses a massive trick putting the emphasis on the Formula One seasons and not making more of the personality, background and life story of Senna – a great, highly watchable, person with a ton of charisma and charm to spare – it’s definitely more of a racing documentary than the biopic title would suggest. As the film pans out we see the trials and tribs of several seasons – focusing on the politics of F1 and the Senna/Prost rivalry – most of which is dramatic and juicy enough to keep a non F1 fan like me interested. There’s a couple of crashes that turn your stomach and the odd interview clip of Senna. An unfortunate aspect is that the picture quality is piss poor, being mostly lifted from VHS archive footage that becomes more tolerable towards the end as TV technology improved. While it’s a decent enough picture, i walked out feeling I didn’t know much more about Senna than when I went in, which was a bummer as he seemed a fascinating person.

Score: 6/10

14 – Shawn Hawkins (OH)

14 – Carey Moore (NE – stayed)

15 – John Balentine (TX)

16 – Lee Taylor (TX)

16 – Eddie Powell III (AL)

16 – Ricky Gray (VA – stay likely)

21 – Milton Mathis (TX)

22 – Frank Williams, Jr. (AR – stayed)

week of 23 – Roy Blankenship (GA)

30 – Richard Bible (AZ)

Frank Williams, Team Principal, said: “Both Sam and Jon are talented and driven people who have worked hard for Williams over 10 and five years respectively. Nonetheless, they have recognised that the team’s performance is not at the level that it needs to be and have resigned in order to give the team the opportunity to regroup and undertake the changes necessary to get back to the front of the grid. Both will continue to work in their present positions through until the end of the year to ensure that the team maintains focus and momentum during the 2011 season. We are very grateful to Sam and to Jon for their professional approach.”

Williams F1 also announced that Mike Coughlan will join the team in June 2011 in the role of Chief Engineer.

Mike Coughlan undertook his training and education at Rolls Royce and Brunel University. He began his Formula One career at Lotus where he worked his way up to Chief Designer. He subsequently worked for Tyrell, Ferrari and Arrows before joining McLaren in 2002 as Chief Designer. Mike left Formula One in 2007 as a result of his role in the ‘Spygate’ affair. Since then, Mike has applied his skills principally as Chief Engineer in the development of the Ocelot Light Protected Patrol Vehicle. He joins Williams F1 from NASCAR competitor, Michael Waltrip Racing.

Frank Williams, Team Principal, said: “Mike Coughlan is a fine engineer with extensive experience across Formula One and both civil and defence engineering. He left Formula One in 2007 because of conduct which he acknowledges was wrong and which he profoundly regrets. His two year ban from the sport expired some time ago and Mike is now determined to prove himself again. Williams is delighted to be able to give him the opportunity to do this and we are very pleased to have one of the most talented and competitive engineers in the sport helping us to return to the front of the grid. This is the first step in re-building and strengthening our technical group. We will announce the next steps as they develop.”

Mike Coughlan commented, “I am grateful to Williams for giving me this opportunity. My experience in 2007 was life-changing. Since then, I have endeavoured to put my skills to good use in the design of the Ocelot vehicle whose purpose is to transport soldiers in safety. I have also enjoyed my time with Michael Waltrip Racing: they are an excellent race team and I wish them well for the future. Now, I am looking forward to returning to a sport which I love and to joining a team that I have admired for many years. I will dedicate myself to the team and to ensuring that we return to competitiveness while respecting the ethical standards with which Williams has always been synonymous.”

Image via Wikipedia

• The company has an poor financial history, generating net income of only £4.6m in FY09, a 50% decline on the £9.2m earned in FY08.  In FY07 the company lost £21.7m (mainly due to an operating loss of 17.4m).  In the first ten months of FY10 the company earned only £3.9m.
• The company will not receive any proceeds from the share sale, as this offering is being conducted in order that existing shareholders can sell-down their holdings.  If the company’s insiders think that this is a good time and price at which to sell, why should outsiders believe that this is a good time and price at which to buy?
• The valuation seems particularly high, as the company is expected to have a market capitalisation of €265m on day one, which compares to net income of £3.9m (in the first ten months of FY10) and is equivalent to a price/earnings ratio in the region of 50x.
• The IPO is taking place in Germany specifically so the company can avoid informing its investors of material contracts, as reported by Bloomberg.  Adam Parr, the executive chairman of Williams, thinks it is “ludicrous” that the company should have to disclose details of contracts that form more than 10% of group revenues.  As an investor, I feel that it is essential that companies provide disclosure of such material contracts.
• As risk factors in offering documents go, this is red flag:
  • “Formula One is a competitive and complex sport.  A large proportion of Williams’ revenues, in particular the Team’s share of the commercial rights income and sponsorship, depends directly or indirectly on the Team’s sporting results. This competitiveness and performance is uncertain by nature, and depends on many factors some of which Williams has limited control over.  There is no guarantee that any Formula One Team can remain competitive.  If the Team’s competitiveness and sporting performance were to decline significantly, this could have a material adverse effect on the sources of income of Williams.”
• Williams is subject to significant key man risk with respect to its drivers and key engineering staff.
• The company faces a monopoly supplier (with respect to its race entries) in the form of the Formula One Administration Ltd.  Formula One Administration (“FOA”) receives income generated from agreements with race-tracks, television companies, track-side sponsors and the tyre supplier.  FOA distributes the minimum income to teams which is necessary to keep them viable and the grid filled at each race.  Note: FOA is the most lucrative operator in the Formula One business and has been a particularly successful leveraged buy-out for CVC.
• Revenues are sourced from a very small number of sources, with the Concorde Agreement and just three sponsors expected to provide 80-90% of revenues in FY11.
• A BBC article on the subject of the IPO quoted team principal Sir Frank Williams as saying: “The sale is being done to help recruit and retain top people and to ensure Williams’ long-term future as an independent company”.  In my opinion, this is code for: “we’re going to dilute shareholders by issuing lots of shares and share options to staff as we can’t afford to pay them in cash because the business doesn’t make a sufficient amount of money.”

In conclusion, rather you than me.

Related Articles

• Williams Formula One team to float on stock market (guardian.co.uk)
• Williams reveals share price for F1′s 1st IPO (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• Public stake: Williams announces flotation details (3news.co.nz)
• Formula One team Williams set to float on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (telegraph.co.uk)
• Williams FW33 Formula 1 car unveiled, IPO confirmed (autoblog.com)
• Williams Formula One firm considers stock market listing (guardian.co.uk)
• Investing in Williams? (bbc.co.uk)
• Williams F1 team founders to share £59m flotation windfall (guardian.co.uk)
• “Fancy owning part of an F1 team? Williams to float on stockmarket” and related posts (jamesallenonf1.com)

Pirelli have announced that they will be bringing the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ compounds to the first four grand prixs of the year, as opposed to super-soft and medium, and is aiming to have two pit-stops at every race. So basically they want it to be like Montreal all over again, which is a good thing – more ‘racing’ and less predictability BUT we will undoubtedly see people like Button doing better where Hamilton will tear his tyres apart after a few seconds. Rubbish.

We also heard about Sir Frank Williams CBE, OBE John Brabham, Jody Sheckter and Dario Franchitti being inducted into the Motorsport Hall of Fame, an event which was slightly outdone by The Brit’s – an award ceremony for pop music whcih gave several awards to Arcade Fire. William’s said afterwards he would “…try not to brag about.” to be honest, if I had just been put in the Motorsport Hall of Fame I would at least update my facebook status and let the ~300 ‘friends’ know what I achieved, however Williams has the World’s motorsport press to do this for him.

Robert Kubica is going under the knife again today to have an operation on his elbow. After already having been operated on a lot, Kubica has remained in Intensive Care until now, and is not expected to return to racing this year. Once again, all the best wishes.

Dietrich Mateschitz, the bloke who is in charge of Red Bull’s F1 vetures, has come out and said that their two drivers will continue to have the rivalry we saw last season, where either could be the top. This said, Red Bull where not that impartial towards which of their drivers should be #1 for them, it was rather obviously stated by all of them when Sebastien tried to overtake Webber in the Turkish Grand Prix (only available to UK users).

If you have anything to share don’t forget I’m on Twitter or you can post a comment and then I’ll reply.

L’équipe Mercedes a quelque peu raté son effet de surprise. Une photo de la nouvelle WO2 a parcourue la toile Internet la veille de sa présentation.

Si le design de cette monoplace n’est pas révolutionnaire et moins innovant que sa devancière (plus particulièrement concernant  l’entrée d’air au dessus du cockpit), Ross Brawn porte de grands espoirs dans sa nouvelle née qui devrait normalement permettre à Michael Schumacher et Nico Rosberg de lutter pour les premières places à l’instar de sa consoeur McLaren-Mercedes.

Cette dernière, redevenue depuis une écurie cliente Mercedes, vise également le titre avec un duo de pilotes éprouvés et constants qui étaient ravi de l’approche prudente et réfléchie du team de Woking.

En effet, la structure britannique a prit plus de temps que ses principaux concurrents pour présenter sa nouvelle monoplace et a, de ce fait, commencé les essais hivernaux avec son ancienne voiture. La ligne de la McLaren est épurée notamment à l’arrière, avec des pontons très fins, trait commun que l’on retrouve sur la majorité des nouvelles monoplaces 2011. La MP4-26 semble être la monoplace la plus raffinée et la plus travaillé parmi ses concurrentes.

Une fois de plus, l’écurie s’est distinguée par une présentation innovante où la voiture est arrivée en kit à Berlin avant d’être assemblée sur place par des mécaniciens, sous les yeux du public.

Tout l’inverse de la présentation conventionnelle de Williams-Cosworth dans leur box du circuit de Valence, qui a mit à jour la nouvelle monoplace britannique sous des couleurs encore transitoires et vierges de nombreux sponsors.

La nouvelle FW33 a donc immédiatement prit la piste aux mains de Rubens Barrichello qui s’est dit impressionné par ses performances. Le pilote brésilien, toujours optimiste, ne manquera pas dans peu de temps, comme à l’accoutumé, de révéler de grandes ambitions pour la saison à venir.

Mais la principale nouvelle annoncée par l’écurie Williams concernait surtout son avenir et son introduction en bourse. Frank Williams, toujours soucieux de la pérennité de son entreprise a donc décidé de lui donner une nouvelle impulsion économique.

L’impulsion de la victoire, elle, a été insufflée à l’écurie Red Bull la saison dernière. Elle compte bien tirer parti cette année de l’excellente base de sa monoplace 2010.

Adrian Newey, acteur important lors de la victoire de Sebastian Vettel et de Red Bull la saison dernière a néanmoins été très conservateur et peu d’innovations sont visibles. Mais pourquoi changer une formule qui gagne ?

Les louanges reçues par l’équipe tout l’hiver n’ont fait qu’augmenter la confiance de l’équipe et ce ne sont pas les révélations tardives de Mark Webber sur sa blessure à l’épaule en fin de saison 2010 qui auront une incidence sur la marche victorieuse de la firme autrichienne. Le pilote australien cependant semble de plus en plus isolé au sein de celle-ci.

Virgin Racing, ou plutôt devrions nous dire Marussia-Virgin Racing reste elle aussi fidèle à sa ligne directrice 2010 en présentant une monoplace conçue entièrement par ordinateur, sans passer par la sacro-sainte étape de la soufflerie. L’écurie, qui courra cette saison sous licence russe, a présenté son nouveau bolide en direct des studios de la BBC, annonçant de ce fait implicitement qu’elle ne renonçait pas tout à fait à ses racines britanniques.

L’expérimenté Timo Glock et le jeune belge Jerôme d’Ambrosio, premier représentant de son pays depuis 17 longues années tenterons tant bien que mal de ne pas réitérer les performances médiocres de 2010, qui avait vu l’équipe finir à la dernière place du championnat.

Force India compte également beaucoup sur la nouvelle VJM04 qui doit permettre à l’équipe de reconquérir le podium. C’est en tout cas l’objectif avoué d’Adrian Sutil, pour qui le temps sans succès semble long. Il ne voudrait pas basculer dans la caste des éternels espoirs qui n’arrivent pas à confirmer leur indéniable talent. Paul di Resta qui remplacera Vitantonio Liuzzi cette saison, aura un approche plus réservée et profitera des progrès attendus de l’écurie indienne pour parfaire son pilotage et apprendre les ficelles du métier de pilote de Formule 1.

En fond de grille, la révolution d’image entamée par l’équipe HRT semble être à ce jour la seule modification probante de la première écurie espagnole en Formule 1. Ses pontons vierges de sponsors et ses couleurs rappelant la robe des McLaren masquent difficilement un chassis obsolète conduit par un pilote vieillissant (Narain Karthikeyan) faisant son retour après six ans d’absence. Les seules ambitions d’Hispania sont évidemment de rester en vie jusqu’à la fin de la saison…le second baquet sera sûrement confié à un, voire, plusieurs pilotes durant l’année selon son budget.

Le plateau de Formule 1 pour l’année 2011 est désormais complet. Cette saison sera transitoire en terme d’environnement technique avant les grands changements prévus pour 2013. Le retour du SREC (ou KERS pour les anglophones) et l’innovation des échappements bas vu sur certaines monoplaces comme la McLaren en seront les principales attractions qui feront autant parler durant la saison que le F-duct l’année dernière et aujourd’hui proscrit.

Axel B.

Frank Williams of New Castle was arrested Friday and charged with sexual abuse of a child and continuous sexual abuse of a child. He is being held on $300,000 cash bail.

Police were called to Christiana Hospital for a report of a sexual assault. Officers say Williams had sexual relations with the child several times during the past year.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

Having previously met with Sir Frank Williams in London to discuss the Oxfordshire-based company’s investment in the region, the Minister wanted to see first-hand how Williams F1 is working and sharing its world-class motorsport engineering expertise with a key partner in the Middle East.

The Minister witnessed, and briefly drove, the advanced vehicle simulator development platform from which WTC engineers are developing solutions for other motorsport classes, regular road users, emergency services and commercial fleet driver training and certification markets in Qatar and abroad. The Minister was also briefed on the Centre’s high-powered flywheel energy storage development programme which will help make Qatar’s ambitious transport and electricity infrastructure more efficient and reliable.

The dynamic nature of Williams’ engagement in Qatar was illustrated when, in November 2010, a partnership between the WTC and UK supermarket group, Sainsbury’s, was announced. The relationship will see the Formula One inspired vehicle simulator technology used to support the training and development of Sainsbury’s drivers to enhance both energy efficiency and safety.

The Minister said: “Williams F1’s Technology Centre in Qatar is an excellent example of the strengthening ties between the UK and Qatar. Following the recent State visit to the UK by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, The Emir of Qatar, the governments of the UK and Qatar committed to expand relationships in the areas of technology, business and education. Williams F1 is a prime example of the collaboration we would like to encourage.”

Damien Scott, General Manager of the Williams Technology Centre in Qatar, said, “We were delighted to host the Minister’s visit to our Centre. Williams F1 possesses strong engineering capabilities, a culture of rapid innovation and unique intellectual property. With its support of R&D and incredibly dynamic economy, Qatar is an excellent location to pursue Williams F1’s technology commercialisation objectives.”

The 1980′s was all about the rise and fall of turbo engines, the War between F1′s governing bodies FISA and FOCA, and the tremendous advances in safety standards that tragedies were now few and far between. This decade also saw the introduction of a more definite and restrictive set of rules and regulations in all possible areas meaning that various aerodynamic innovations introduced in the 1960′s and 1970′s were either restricted or eventually out-lawed. Once prominent features such as local entrants and privateers running customer chassis and Non-Championship races would also become a thing of the past during this time. After their dominace of the 1960′s and the 1st half of the 1970′s, the Brits were destined not to win at all in the 1980′s, finishing runner-up no less than 3 times and suffering their worst season ever right at the start of the decade. The decade began with the rise of Williams, as Australian Alan Jones won 5 races in a dominant season for the team, with new team-mate Carlos Reutemann contributing 1 win. The dominant forces of 1978 and 1979, Lotus and Ferrari would both flounder in 1980, scoring just 22 points between them. Brazilian Nelson Piquet was the only driver who could possibly deny Williams their 1st Driver’s title, scoring 3 wins for the rejuvenated Brabham team, but 2 DNF’s in the final 2 races where Jones won cost Piquet the title. Williams had a relatively unchallenged run to their 1st Constructor’s title, as Brabham were let down by the struggling Ricardo Zunino, who failed to score. The Argentine was replaced mid-season by Mexican driver Hector Rebaque, who would contribute just a single point to Brabham’s tally, not even enough for 2nd place overall. Only 4 teams won a race in 1980, the other 2 being Renault with 3 wins, and Ligier with 2. Apart from Jones and Piquet, the only other driver to win more than once in 1980 was Renault driver Rene Arnoux with 2 wins, the other 3 wins shared by his compatriots Jacques Laffite and Didier Pironi in the Ligiers, and team-mate Jean-Pierre Jabouille. This season marked the F1 bows of future World Champions France’s Alain Prost for McLaren, and Britain’s Nigel Mansell for Lotus. As 2 future World Champions were making their F1 bows, 2 former World Champions announced their retirements, Emerson Fittipaldi after 5 seasons with his eponymous team and Jody Scheckter, whose title defence had mustered just a single 5th place and a non-qualification in Canada. Scheckter’s team-mate Gilles Villeneuve fared no better. New Zealander Mike Thackwell became F1′s youngest driver to date at just 19 and a half years old when he made his debut at the Canadian Grand Prix for Tyrrell. The Shadow team finally keeled over and Osella made their F1 bow with a single entry for American Eddie Cheever. Big crashes were still a common occurence, as Swiss driver Clay Regazzoni was paralyzed from the waist down after a huge shunt in his Ensign at Long Beach, and Frenchman Patrick Depailler died when he crashed his Alfa Romeo in practice for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim. The Italian Grand Prix was held at Imola this year, the circuit having previously held a non-championship race in 1979, marking the 1st time Grand Prix motor racing had not gone to Monza since it’s inception in 1922.

Williams were the early pace-setters again in 1981, with defending champion Alan Jones leading a Williams 1-2 in the season opener at Long Beach, and team-mate Carlos Reutemann doing likewise at the Brazilian Grand Prix. But the Argentine defied team-orders in order to beat Jones, and soon the 2 team-mates were no longer speaking to each other, a deadly feud had begun. That feud allowed Brabham driver Nelson Piquet to launch a bid for the title, claiming the next 2 races in Argentina at Reutemann’s expense and Imola, now hosting the San Marino Grand Prix. That race was notable for the absence of Lotus, who withdrew after their new twin-chassis 88, was banned from competing. Reutemann then triumphed at a tragic Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder, where he ran into Osella mechanic Giovanni Amadeo during Friday practice, the Italian dying from his injuries the following Monday. A similar incident occured on Sunday when Arrows mechanic Dave Luckett tried to start Ricardo Patrese’s stricken Arrows from the rear, after the Italian stalled on the grid, only to be slammed into by Italian new-comer Siegfried Stohr in the other Arrows. Luckett survived but thereafter, mechanics had to clear the grid 15 seconds before the parade lap, with greater caution on the part of the race organiser. After a disastrous 1980 season, Ferrari had not shown any immediate signs of improvement, then came Monaco where Gilles Villeneuve triumphed after Piquet crashed out and Jones faltered. Villeneuve won again in the Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama, pursued all the way by Jacques Laffite’s Ligier, John Watson‘s McLaren, Carlos Reutemann’s Williams and Elio De Angelis’ Lotus, all covered by 1.2 seconds. The French Grand Prix saw a home win for Renault, thanks to their latest recruit Alain Prost, the Frenchman’s 1st win. Having been Britain’s top driver of 1980 despite no podiums, an all-time low for his country, Ulsterman John Watson scored McLaren’s 1st win since 1977 in his home Grand Prix at Silverstone. Piquet struck back at Hockenheim. The next 4 races were shared by Prost and Laffite. By this time, only the inaugural Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix at Las Vegas remained, with Reutemann leading Piquet 49 points to 48 and Laffite an outside contender on 43. Reutemann took pole but faded to 8th in the race, Piquet managed to hang on to 5th place, thus claiming his 1st World Title by a point. Jones won the race from Prost, meaning that the top 5 drivers were seperated by just 7 points, while Williams won their 2nd Constructor’s title in as many years. This season marked the return of March and Theodore, and the arrival of Toleman, with Formula 2 Champion Brian Henton and fellow British driver Derek Warwick. Arrows scored their 1st pole position at Long Beach thanks to Patrese, while fellow Italian Michele Alboreto made his F1 bow with Tyrrell, replacing Ricardo Zunino. 1978 Champion Mario Andretti retired after a disappointing season with Alfa Romeo. 

The 1982 season would go down in History as the most competitive Formula 1 season to date. The 16 races held in 1982 would produce no less than 11 different winners, all of whom winning once or twice, but no more. The 1982 season would also be blighted by tragedy, controvesy, and the rise of the pioneering turbos. After the acrimony of 1981, Alan Jones retired and replaced by Keke Rosberg, with team-mate Carlos Reutemann doing likewise after just 2 races. Both of which were won by Renault’s Alain Prost, although the latter race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, was originally won by defending Champion Nelson Piquet in the Brabham followed by Rosberg, only for both drivers to be disqualified. Double World Champion Niki Lauda returned to F1 with McLaren and scored his 1st win for the team at Long Beach. Next was the San Marino Grand Prix, where only the FISA teams were present, as the FOCA teams were angry about the controvesy in Brazil, leaving just 14 entries. The race was a battle between the Ferraris and the Renaults, but once the Renaults had retired, the Ferraris of Gilles Villeneuve and Didier Pironi were left fighting each other. After repeatedly fighting over the lead, Pironi eventually won against all team-orders, thus losing Villeneuve’s respect in the process. Tragically, Villeneuve crashed fatally in practice for the next race, the Belgian Grand Prix at Zolder. Ferrari immediately withdrew, and it was John Watson who triumphed for McLaren. Monaco was next, and boy was it a classic, with the likes of Prost, Pironi, Brabham’s Ricardo Patrese, Alfa Romeo’s Andrea De Cesaris and Irishman Derek Daly, who had replaced Reutemann at Williams after starting the season with Theodore, all falling off the wagon within sight of the flag. In the end, Patrese recovered to take his 1st win, with Pironi 2nd and compatriot De Cesaris in 3rd. Watson shone at Detroit, taking his 2nd win of the season after starting 17th. Tragedy occured once more at Canada, when Italian rookie Ricardo Paletti died after crashing his Osella into the back of Pironi’s stricken Ferrari on the grid, Nelson Piquet won the race. Pironi joined the 2 wins club in the Dutch Grand Prix, where Ferrari finally found a replacement for Villeneuve, Frenchman Patrick Tambay who finished 8th. Lauda then triumphed at the British Grand Prix for McLaren, whilst Rene Arnoux scored a home win for Renault in the French Grand Prix, then Tambay scored his 1st win in the German Grand Prix. That race was famous for a collision between Piquet and Chilean driver Eliseo Salazar in the ATS, which ended in fisticuffs, as well as a huge crash in practice for Pironi that spelt the end of his F1 career. Keke Rosberg had been the most consistent performer of 1982, but had yet to even win a race, and was narrowly prevented from doing so in Austria by Lotus driver Elio De Angelis. Rosberg finally won a race at the Swiss Grand Prix, which was actually held at Dijon in France. The Italian Grand Prix went to Arnoux, with Italian driver Michele Alboreto scoring his 1st win in a Tyrrell in the season-closing Caesar’s Palace Grand Prix at Las Vegas, where Rosberg finished 5th to become World Champion. His nearest rival had been Watson, who needed to win with Rosberg failing to score, but was destined to finish 2nd in both the race and the championship. The March, Ensign and Fittipaldi teams all pulled out of F1 at the end of the season, whilst Mario Andretti made an emotional return for Ferrari after Pironi’s accident, finishing 3rd at Monza. There had also been a low-key return to F1 for Jochen Mass with March. Brabham was the latest team to switch to turbos during the season, running with BMW power, which meant for a disappointing title defence for Piquet. The Brazilian scoring just 1 win, slumping to 11th overall behind his team-mate, and failing to qualify in Detroit. His successor, Keke Rosberg had matched Mike Hawthorn’s feat of clinching the title with just 1 win to his name, which would also be the last for the legendary Ford-Cosworth DFV. Tragically, Lotus’ legendary founder Colin Chapman died of a heart attack at the end of the season.  

The turbos were taking over fast, Brabham, ATS, Toleman and incoming Spirit, the latter masterminding Honda’s return to F1, all began the season with turbo power. By the end of the season, Williams, McLaren, Lotus and Osella would have also made the inevitable conversion. The banning of ground-effects and 6 wheelers for 1983 led to some very interesting looking cars, none more so than the Gordon Murray designed Brabham BT52, shaped like a dart. Their lead driver Nelson Piquet drew 1st blood on home soil in Brazil. There followed a magnificent McLaren 1-2 at Long Beach, with John Watson leading home Niki Lauda, after they had started 22nd and 23rd on the grid respectively. That race was also notable for an ill-fated one-off return for 1980 Champion Alan Jones in an Arrows. Alain Prost scored Renault’s 3rd home win in as many years in the French Grand Prix, before compatriot Patrick Tambay scored an emotional win for Ferrari at Imola, which he dedicated to his late predecessor Gilles Villeneuve. Defending Champion Keke Rosberg scored his 1st win of the season at Monaco, with Prost winning the Belgian Grand Prix, which had returned to Spa after a 13 year absence. Michele Alboreto scored the last win for Tyrrell and the Ford-Cosworth DFV in Detroit, thereafter, the turbos would dominate. Rene Arnoux, now driving for Ferrari after falling out with Renault, scored his 1st win for the Prancing Horse in Canada. Prost scored his 3rd win of the year in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Arnoux triumphed once more in Germany, then Prost took his tally to 4 wins in Austria, with Arnoux extending the pattern at the Dutch Grand Prix. Piquet then triumphed in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, and the European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch, the latter race marked the debut of British driver Jonathan Palmer in a 3rd Williams. Only the South African Grand Prix remained, with Prost leading Piquet 57 points to 55, but the Frenchman retired and Piquet went on to finish 3rd. The Brazilian was a double World Champion. The race was won by Piquet’s team-mate Ricardo Patrese in the 2nd Brabham. This season marked the departure of Theodore and French driver Jean-Pierre Jarier.

By 1984, the turbos had taken over to such an extent, that only Tyrrell were runningly normally-aspirated engines. Indeed, Tyrrell were destined not to score in 1984, as they were found to be running illegal cars at Detroit, and had all their results from the 1984 season annulled. It was McLaren with their TAG-Porsche turbos that would go on to dominate preceedings, with Alain Prost joining Niki Lauda, in place of John Watson. The Renault team had sacked Prost, along with his American team-mate Eddie Cheever, to be replaced by British hope Derek Warwick and Patrick Tambay. Indeed, McLaren won the 1st 2 races, Prost in Brazil and Lauda in South Africa, before Ferrari’s latest recruit Michele Alboreto triumphed in Belgium. McLaren then won the next 3 races, with Prost winning the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola, and Lauda in France. Prost took the spoils in a rain-soaked Monaco Grand Prix that was stopped after 31 laps, meaning half-points were awarded, but not before the young-guns had had a chance to show their potential. Prost had come under-threat from the likes of Britain’s Nigel Mansell in the Lotus, Brazilian new-comer Ayrton Senna in the Toleman, and German new-comer Stefan Bellof in the Tyrrell during that race. Defending Champion Nelson Piquet had suffered from a unreliable Brabham so far in 1984, and so proceeded to win the next 2 races in Canada and Detroit, the latter race marked the coming of age of British new-comer Martin Brundle in the 2nd Tyrrell who finished 2nd. But of course, by this time, Tyrrell’s cars had been declared illegal. To make matters worse, Brundle had a huge crash in practice for the inaugural Dallas Grand Prix, breaking both feet. The Dallas heat caused the track surface to break up, and after a race of absolute carnage, Keke Rosberg eventually won for Williams. That race was notable for Italian driver Piercarlo Ghinzani finishing 5th for Osella, his only point-scoring drive, and Nigel Mansell finishing 6th despite running out of fuel. He proceeded to push his stricken Lotus over the line and promptly collapsed in the searing heat. Thereafter, McLaren would never be beaten again in 1984, Lauda  and Prost taking 3 wins apiece in the next 6 races. By this time, only the Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril remained, with Lauda leading Prost 66 points to 62.5. Prost won the race, but Lauda finished 2nd to take the title by just half a point, his 3rd World Title. After Brundle’s big crash at Dallas, Venezuelan driver Johnny Cecotto suffered career-ending leg injuries at Brands Hatch, crashing his Toleman. French rookie Philippe Alliot then crashed heavily during the race in his RAM. 2 promising young Austrians made their F1 bows during the season, Jo Gartner for Osella, and Gerhard Berger for ATS. They finished 5th and 6th repectively at Monza but neither were eligible for points. F1 returned to the Nurburgring, now held on the much shorter Sudschleife circuit, built alongside the legendary Nordschleife. That race was held as the European Grand Prix, as the German Grand Prix was held at Hockenheim, as it had been every year since 1977. The ATS team sadly keeled over at the end of the season. Despite winning the title, Lauda had not taken a single pole position all season, only 1967 Champion Denny Hulme had previously achieved this feat.

After the near-misses of 1983 and 1984, Alain Prost dominated in 1985, taking 5 wins and winning his 1st World Title by 23 points. His World Champion team-mate Niki Lauda faded away, winning only the last ever Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, before retiring once more, this time, for good. Ferrari’s Michele Alboreto was to be Prost’s nearest challenger in 1985, winning in Canada and Germany, but blew his chance with 5 non-scores in the last 5 races. There were firsts and lasts aplenty in 1985, starting with the 1st wins for Ayrton Senna in Portugal for Lotus, and Nigel Mansell in the last ever European Grand Prix to be held at Brands Hatch for Williams. The Britain had taken 72 races to achieve this goal. This was the 1st season in which all teams ran on turbo power. There were last wins for Brabham thanks to Nelson Piquet in France, Keke Rosberg scoring his last 2 wins in Detroit and the 1st ever Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide, and Elio De Angelis scoring his last win at Imola after Prost was disqualified. The German Grand Prix returned to the Nurburgring, and the Belgian Grand Prix returned to Spa for good after a one-off return to Zolder in 1984, and the Paul Ricard, Silverstone, and Monte Carlo circuits were all modified for 1986. Several teams bowed out of F1 during the season such as RAM, Renault, Toleman, Spirit and Alfa Romeo. At the same time, several teams made their 1st appearences such as Minardi, Zakspeed and Haas-Lola. The latter masterminding the full time return of Alan Jones after a one-off return in 1983. There were one-off outings for Rene Arnoux, sacked by Ferrari after just 1 race, and replaced by Sweden’s Stefan Johansson, who had originally signed for Tyrrell, and John Watson in place of Lauda at the Nurburgring. It was a tragic year for Germany as Stefan Bellof and Manfred Winkelhock, driving for Tyrrell and RAM respectively, passed away within a few weeks of each other in seperate accidents whilst competing in the World Sportscar Championship. This season also marked the arrival of the on-board camera, first attempted by Renault at the Nurburgring via a 3rd entry for French driver Francois Hesnault, who was an early retirement.

After 2 years of McLaren dominance, the Williams-Honda was the car to have in 1986, with Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, who had replaced Keke Rosberg, winning 9 races between them. Unfortunately, Mansell and Piquet fell out with each other very quickly, and their constant scrapes allowed Alain Prost to launch a bid for the title. He won 4 times, as many as Piquet, but one less than Mansell. Only Ayrton Senna in the Lotus managed to beat those 3 drivers more than once, narrowly beating Mansell in Spain, then winning again at Detroit. The only other winner was Austria’s Gerhard Berger, marking F1′s return to Mexico with his 1st win, also the 1st for the new Benetton team. F1 also made its 1st visit to Hungary, where Piquet led Senna to a Brazilian 1-2, with Mansell 3rd. The German Grand Prix returned to Hockenheim where Piquet triumphed, while Brands Hatch hosted its last British Grand Prix, where Nigel Mansell scored a 2nd straight home win. F1 would never go back to Brands Hatch after 1986, as the race was marred by a horrific pile-up at the start that left Frenchman Jacques Laffite with career-ending leg injuries, his seat at Ligier taken by compatriot Philippe Alliot. Going into the finale at Adelaide, Mansell led Prost and Piquet by 7 points, and the Brit was running 3rd behind his rivals. Suddenly, Mansell’s rear tyre blew spectacularly, putting him out of the race. Piquet was brought in for a pre-cautionary pit stop, allowing Prost to take the lead, the Frenchman winning the race. This made Prost the 1st driver to win back-to-back titles since Jack Brabham. Williams were clear winners in the Constructor’s Championship though. It was a poor season for Ferrari with no wins, and just 8 points ahead of Ligier in the Constructor’s Championship, for whom former Ferrari driver Rene Arnoux was driving. There was tragedy during a test at Paul Ricard, when Elio De Angelis crashed his Brabham, an accident that would eventually prove fatal. This signalled the beginning of the end for the turbo era. Keke Rosberg and British new-comer Johnny Dumfries both retired at the end of the season, along with Alan Jones and Patrick Tambay, after Haas-Lola pulled out. AGS made their 1st appearence with Italian Ivan Capelli at the wheel.

Alain Prost and McLaren were finally usurped in 1987, as the Williams-Hondas dominated, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet once-again winning 9 races between them. The turbos were restricted for 1987, and a sub-category called the Jim Clark Cup was introduced specifically for the non-turbo drivers, with the Colin Chapman Cup applying to their teams. Prost had a great start to the season, winning 2 of the 1st 3 races, with only Mansell interrupting his run at Imola. That race had been run without Piquet, who had a big shunt in practice, promoting Italian new-comer Gabriele Tarquini onto the grid to become F1′s 500th starter. After a spectacular fall-out with Mansell in Belgium, Ayrton Senna won in Monaco and Detroit for Lotus, their last as a constructor and the 1st for active suspension. Williams dominated the next 6 races, with 2 wins for Mansell, then 2 for Piquet, then Mansell winning in Austria and Piquet at Monza, more often than not at each other’s expense. Prost ended Williams’ run in Portugal, taking his 28th victory in doing so, beating Jackie Stewart’s record. Mansell then triumphed in Spain and Mexico, but Piquet’s consistency meant that he lead Mansell by 12 points, with 2 races to go. The 1st of these was the Japanese Grand Prix, back on the calendar after a 10 year absence, but now held at Suzuka. It was here that the championship was settled. But the championship was not settled in the race, it was settled in practice when Nigel Mansell had a nasty accident at the daunting 130R corner, ending his 1987 season on the spot. Piquet was Champion for the 3rd time, but he retired from the last 2 races, both of which were won by Gerhard Berger. The Austrian was now driving for Ferrari, and led team-mate Michele Alboreto to a Ferrari 1-2 in the season-closing Australian Grand Prix, where Williams poached Ricardo Patrese from the departing Brabham team one race early so Stefano Modena made his debut in his compatriot’s place. Patrese had signed to replace Piquet for 1988, with Piquet going to Lotus, and Senna to McLaren. While Williams dominated the outright titles, the non-turbo titles were dominated by Tyrrell with lead driver Jonathan Palmer the eventual winner, followed by his team-mate Philippe Streiff. The other non-turbo teams were AGS, the returning March team, and incoming Coloni and Larrousse Lola. Italy’s Teo Fabi retired at the end of the season while Martin Brundle scored Zakspeed’s only points at Imola with 5th place.

Honda switched to McLaren for 1988, leaving Williams saddled with normally-aspirated Judd engines, and Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna proceeded to dominate. The McLaren MP4-4 was the class of the field, winning 15 out of 16 races, 8 for Senna and 7 for Prost. The only race McLaren didn’t win was the Italian Grand Prix, where Prost’s engine blew, and Senna retired after a collision with Williams stand-in Jean-Louis Schlesser. This set the scene for a stunning Ferrari 1-2 led by Gerhard Berger, in their home Grand Prix, just weeks after the death of their great founder Enzo Ferrari. Thanks to the best 11 score rule, Ayrton Senna won the title after a great comeback drive at Suzuka after slumping to 14th at the start, his overall tally was less than that of Prost. It was a poor season for Nelson Piquet, scoring no better than 3 3rd places for Lotus, and Nigel Mansell. The Britain finished just twice all season, each time in 2nd place, and was absent from Spa and Monza due to ill-health. There was promise shown by the Benettons of Belgium’s Thierry Boutsen and Italy’s Alessandro Nannini, along with Derek Warwick and Eddie Cheever in the Arrows’, and Ivan Capelli in the March. All scoring a great haul of podium finishes between them, Capelli even took the fight to Prost at Suzuka, leading the McLaren briefly before Prost re-took him. This season marked the end of the turbo era, and this lead to the arrival of Rial, Eurobrun and Dallara. Only Rial would score points thanks to their sole driver Andrea De Cesaris finishing 4th at Detroit. After 3 seasons, Minardi also scored their 1st point in at Detroit with Italian driver Pierluigi Martini, who had replaced their original lead driver Adrian Campos from Spain after 5 races.   

The turbos were out, and the buzz-words in 1989 were 3.5 litre regs, and the number of teams rose to an all-time record of 20. This consisted of the 18 existing teams from 1988, along with incoming Onyx, and the return of Brabham. Consequently, there were as many as 39 drivers fighting over 26 grid slots at each race, and there were many drivers who never made the grid in 1989. At the front of the field, McLaren continued to dominate, but it was Nigel Mansell who drew 1st blood in Brazil in his 1st race for Ferrari. His team-mate Gerhard Berger had a nasty fiery shunt at Imola from which he emerged with minor burns. That race was won by Ayrton Senna, but he had a disagreement with Prost after the race, and so began a bitter feud. Senna also won in Monaco and Mexico, but then racked up 4 straight retirements, starting with the United States Grand Prix now held at Phoenix. Prost won that race, then Thierry Boutsen scored his 1st win in a Williams at his 95th attempt, then Prost won in France and Britain. Senna struck back at Hockenheim, then Nigel Mansell rocked the establishment at Hungary, winning from 12th on the grid. Senna won at Spa, but engine failure handed victory to Prost at Monza, and the Brazilian retired again in Portugal. This time, the reason for Senna’s retirement was a collision with Mansell, who had just been black-flagged for reversing into his pit box. Berger won the race after a difficult season, while Mansell was banned from the next race for his actions. Senna triumphed in Spain, and now trailed Prost by 16 points going into the last 2 races, the 1st of which was Suzuka. Prost dominated preceedings with Senna in 2nd, but the Brazilian was reeling the Frenchman in, finally catching him with 7 laps to go. It was here that Senna made his move, diving down the inside of Prost at the final chicane, Prost turned in on Ayrton and off the track they went. Prost was out on the spot, Senna continued and proceeded to win the race, but was disqualified for being push-started and rejoining via the escape road. This handed the win to Alessandro Nannini in the Benetton, and the title to Prost, and Senna proceeded to accuse FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre of conspiring to prevent him from beating Prost. The Australian Grand Prix at Adelaide was wet and carnage-filled. Prost withdrew from the race after just 1 lap, but Senna carried on and led until a collision with Martin Brundle’s Brabham put him out, handing the win to Boutsen. Plenty of promising young drivers came of age in 1989, such as Stefano Modena for Brabham, Britain’s Johnny Herbert for Benetton, France’s Jean Alesi for Tyrrell and Brazil’s Maurico Gugelmin for March, despite a big crash at Paul Ricard, where he launched his car over Alesi and Mansell. There were 1st podiums for Dallara and Onyx, and a 1st double points-finish for Minardi, while Rial and Zakspeed pulled out at the end of the season. This season marked the retirements of Rene Arnoux, Eddie Cheever, Piercarlo Ghinzani and Jonathan Palmer. All in all, 1989 had been F1′s most competitive season ever with 29 point-scorers from 16 teams, an all-time high. This marked the perfect send-off for F1 in the 1980′s.

“My goal then was to race in Formula One as an independent Constructor. This was and is my great passion and I will race for as long as I continue to be blessed with good health. It is also my desire that the team is in good shape to go on racing long after I am gone. To that end, it is prudent and necessary to plan for an ownership structure that will enable Williams to be an independent Constructor, owned and staffed by people committed to Formula One and to the sound business practices which have supported us over three decades.

“I have concluded that the option which will best achieve this is to broaden our shareholder base with public shareholders, while having a stable core of long-term investors closely involved in the running of the team. This will ensure stability, good governance and will, I believe, enable us to attract and retain the best people and partners.

“Patrick, Toto and I are therefore examining this option closely and, if the environment is propitious, we may act in the near future. Regardless of whatever steps we take, I shall remain the majority and controlling shareholder and the Team Principal of AT&T Williams.”

Q&A WITH ADAM PARR – CHAIRMAN, WILLIAMS F1

Q. It sounds like Williams is considering a flotation on the stock exchange. Would that be correct?
ASP. Yes, it would be correct to say that Williams F1 is considering a flotation on the stock exchange. At this stage, all we have concluded is that it is the best way to secure the future of the team and its 450 employees.

Q. What is the timetable?
ASP. As the plan develops we will provide further information.

Q. Is retirement a current consideration for Frank?
ASP. No. Retirement is categorically not on Frank’s agenda. Anyone who knows Frank knows this.

Q. Are there any concerns surrounding Frank’s health?
ASP. No. Frank’s health is absolutely fine.

Q. What other options have the Board investigated?
ASP. We have had many approaches in the past, but none have offered the same benefits as this route.

Q. Toto Wolff invested in the team in November 2009. What is his future role?
ASP. Toto is a non-executive director and a significant shareholder in the company. He has already established himself as an important part of the team and he will play a central role in its future.

Q. If Williams were to go public, what are the implications for the team’s partners and relations with the FIA and FOM?
ASP. The team has always enjoyed honest and open relationships with its partners, the governing body of the sport and the commercial rights-holder. Whether we are a public or private company, this will not change.

Q. Would any flotation involve raising funds for the company?
ASP. No.

Q. Does Williams F1 have the financial track record to support a flotation?
ASP. Yes, we believe we do. The company has always been run on sound financial principles. In spite of the economic environment in recent years, we have turned a profit and generated positive cash-flow from operating activities in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and we have a fully contracted budget for 2011.

President Chavez’s decision to allow PDVSA to enter into a long-term sponsorship deal with Williams is undoubtedly clever, and will return much needed favourable PR from around the world. The majority of analysts commenting on the news are simply clueless about Venezuela’s situation, and interpret this as just any other sponsorship deal, ignoring that PDVSA, unlike BP, Shell, or Exxon, is a state company. Spending Venezuelan public money in F1 should not be celebrated, or encouraged, especially when Venezuela has such appalling levels of poverty, lack of housing, decaying infrastructure, and its government is busy replicating Cuba’s communist model.

Frank Williams is in for a rocky ride, as the notoriously mercurial Venezuelan president, and his utterly inefficient regime, will push him to the limits. This deal will be anything but straightforward, and I sincerely hope Mr. Williams gets his share of headaches because of it, for taking money from an underdeveloped country just to keep his head afloat in F1, is disgustingly unprincipled.

As per Pastor Maldonado, I predict that his F1 career will be anything but successful.

*A discussion about this topic is taking place in BBC’s Comments page (beware of the Chavez fans). More accurate commentary in “Hugo Chavez Now Has An F1 Team” and “Venezuela Invests In Williams Formula 1 Team, Installs “Socialist” Pay Driver” Of special note this comment: “One group able to come up with the money was PDVSA, the Venezuelan owned state oil company, who managed to chip in $14 million dollars, and effectively force Williams to sign Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado. Maldonado is an avowed supporter of President Hugo Chavez, making his signing barely more palatable than the patronage that may have gone on if a Venezuelan minister’s child was given a Formula 1 seat.”

O novo motor logo surte resultado e a Williams conquista, por dois anos seguidos, o 3º lugar, subindo para o 2º nos tempos de Montoya, em 2002 e 2003. Mas o que parecia o início de uma 3ª fase de conto de fadas internamente era uma luta por auto-afirmação. A BMW, naturalmente, queria seguir os passos da Mercedes e, cada vez mais, controlar a Williams, mas Frank tinha outros planos. “Nunca funcionou entre nós. Há uma diferença entre a maneira de pensar e agir dos ingleses e dos alemães. Infelizmente, não ‘bateu’, o que é uma pena. Um dia, talvez encontremos um parceiro apropriado, mas não estamos procurando. Nós valorizamos muito nossa independência.”

A parceria com a BMW acabou dando em divórcio

Desses anos de “quase casamento” e “quase sucesso” de parceria com os alemães, a Williams poderia ter saído campeã em 2003, não fossem alguns erros de seus pilotos. No entanto, com Ralf Schumacher e Juan Pablo Montoya sabendo que deixariam o time ao final de 2004 e uma reformulação na parte técnica da equipe, com a ascensão de Sam Michael, atrapalharam o rendimento naqueles que seriam os dois últimos anos antes do rompimento que, a exemplo do que aconteceu ao final de 1987, deixou Frank Williams numa posição delicada em relação aos motores. Restou apelar para o Cosworth, o que pouco ajudou.

Seguiriam anos de vacas magras e um círculo vicioso de falta de dinheiro e resultados. Mas fica a certeza de Frank de que o time voltará às vitórias. “Uma coisa é o dinheiro. Recursos vêm do dinheiro. Mas recursos também incluem boas cabeças e criatividade. Quando você tem todos estes tipos de recursos, não falta quase mais nada. Claro que você pode usar muito dinheiro, mas a chave é ter gente inteligente e que trabalha duro. Certamente estaremos no topo novamente – é nosso objetivo, mas não vai acontecer de uma hora para a outra. Os times que estão à nossa frente têm mais dinheiro, mas duvido que tenham mais criatividade.”

Frank Williams ao lado da jóia FW14b

Em 1988, a Williams sofreu uma queda muito grande com relação ao ano anterior. Primeiro se viu sem os potentes motores Honda, que tinham embalado o título da equipe em 87. Juntamente com os motores campeões, o brasileiro Nelson Piquet, que havia dado o título de 87 à equipe, foi para a Lotus.

Para substituir Piquet foi contratado o italiano Riccardo Patrese, que já havia corrido a última prova de 87 na Austrália pela equipe, substituindo Nigel Mansell, que tinha se acidentado na qualificação e não teve condições físicas para correr. Já para substituir os motores Honda, o jeito foi fechar com os Judd, que devia bastante em questão de potência quando comparados com os dos rivais. Mas Frank Williams e Patrick Head já estavam em negociação avançada com a Renault.

Na verdade, o primeiro contato entre a equipe e a montadora francesa se deu ainda em 1987 durante o Grande Prêmio de Portugal. Mesmo não estando mais na categoria desde o fim de 1986, quando trabalharam com a equipe Lotus, a Renault manteve um pequeno grupo que continuou trabalhando no desenvolvimento de um V10 de 3.5 litros. A idéia era os motores estrearem no início da temporada de 1989, mas Patrick Head decidiu testar ainda em 88, para ajudar na construção do carro do ano.

Boutsen e Patrese na dobradinha no Canadá em 1989

Em 1989, deu-se então início a uma das parcerias mais vitoriosas da categoria. Dos volantes saiu Mansell e entrou Thierry Boutsen. Mas era ainda um ano de transição e a equipe conquistou apenas duas vitórias, ambas com o novato. Em 1990, a equipe contratou um tal Adrian Newey para ajudar nos desenhos dos carros. Porém, o desempenho na temporada foi pior do que no ano anterior. Em 1991, com o primeiro carro com os toques de Newey e o retorno de Mansell no lugar de Boutsen, a equipe começou a reverter a história. Apesar de começar muito mal o campeonato, o inglês conseguiu se recuperar e chegou no fim da temporada disputando o título contra o brasileiro Ayrton Senna da Mclaren, ficando com o vice.

Daí chegou 1992 e com ele o fantástico FW14b, considerado por muitos o melhor carro de todos os tempos da categoria. Era suspensão ativa, controle de tração, freios ABS e uma enormidade de recursos eletrônicos. Em brincadeiras se dizia que era a prova de erros e, de tão bom, até Nigel Mansell foi campeão com ele. Foi um ano de quebra de recordes para a equipe. O inglês, de cara, venceu as 5 primeiras provas da temporada e foi campeão com 5 corridas de antecedência.

Mas Frank Williams nunca foi chegado a pilotos que quiseram brilhar mais que a equipe e, no fim da temporada, não chegou a um acordo com Mansell, que saiu da categoria para ser campeão na Indy. A equipe negociava então com Alain Prost e Ayrton Senna, mas o francês vetou a contratação do brasileiro e Damon Hill, o piloto de testes, foi promovido a titular. O carro continuava fantástico e o francês conquistou fácil o quarto título da carreira. E no fim do ano, lá estava Frank Williams se livrando de mais um campeão do mundo.

Era a vez da equipe receber Ayrton Senna, um velho sonho de Frank. Mas o brasileiro chegou no lugar certo na hora errada. A FIA, tentando deixar a categoria mais humana, havia proibido o uso de todos os artefatos que fizeram daquele carro o melhor de todos: suspensão ativa, controle de tração e os ABS. Senna tinha nas mãos um carro rápido, mas muito difícil de controlar, pois a equipe teve que recomeçar do zero. A temporada começou com poles para Senna e vitórias para Schumacher, até que na terceira etapa do ano, em  San Marino, um acidente levou o brasileiro.

O escocês David Coulthard assumiu o volante da Williams, mas nas 4 últimas provas foi substituído por Mansell, que novamente retornava à equipe. A Williams chegou a se recuperar na temporada e viu Hill disputando o título contra o alemão Michael Schumacher da Benetton, mas um acidente entre os dois na última prova deu o título ao alemão. Em 1995, a dupla voltou a ser Hill e Coulthard, mas desta vez a equipe não conseguiu incomodar tanto a Benetton quanto no ano anterior e Schumacher venceu novamente o campeonato.

Em 1996, Coulthard saiu e Jacques Villeneuve desembarcou na equipe inglesa. Depois de 2 temporadas sem ganhar o campeonato, lá estava novamente o forte motor Renault empurrando a equipe e dando a Damon Hill o título da temporada. Apesar do ótimo resultado, estava claro para todos que não houve um domínio e que os fatores daquele ano contribuiriam e muito para a conquista. Schumacher deixou a Benetton para a Ferrari e ainda estava se acertando com a equipe. A McLaren e a Mercedes ainda não estavam totalmente alinhadas e, na Benetton, faltava um piloto que mantivesse o nível da equipe.

E em 1997? Lá se foi mais um campeão mundial da Williams! Damon Hill foi substituído pelo alemão Heinz-Harald Frentzen. Sob o comando de Villeneuve, a equipe continuou vencendo provas e, no fim, numa disputa dura contra Schumacher, chegou novamente ao título. Foi de certa forma o pico da equipe e o que se viu daí para frente foi só decadência. A dupla de pilotos foi mantida, mas Adrian Newey mudou-se para a Mclaren e a Renault deixou de ser uma parceira e passou a ser apenas uma fornecedora, e a supremacia dos motores acabaram desaparecendo.

Em 98, a equipe marcou apenas 38 pontos, contra 156 da McLaren e 133 da Ferrari. No ano seguinte Frank trocou a dupla de pilotos. Saíram Villeneuve e Frentzen e entraram Ralf Schumacher e Alex Zanardi. O italiano, que apareceu como uma promessa, depois da ótima fase vivida nos Estados Unidos, decepcionou e não marcou nem um ponto na temporada inteira. Schumacher ainda conseguiu marcar 35, pouco para uma equipe que até dois anos atrás havia conquistado um bicampeonato.

Mas Frank Williams já estava com as antenas ligadas e costurando um novo acordo de motor, desta vez com a alemã BMW, que desembarcou na equipe no ano seguinte. Mas esta é a história desta quinta-feira no especial sobre o dirigente.

Francis Owen Garbatt Williams, ou simplesmente Sir Frank Williams, nasceu no dia 16 de abril de 1942, na Inglaterra. Filho de um piloto de bombardeiro, que combateu na Segunda Guerra Mundial e de uma professora de crianças especiais, foi morar com os avós depois que os pais se separaram. Aos sete anos foi enviado para um internato escocês para estudar. Foi lá que o menino começou a ter contato com revistas sobre carros e se apaixonou pelo automobilismo, lendo as histórias da Jaguar nas 24 Horas de Le Mans.

De colega de "república" a piloto: com o amigo Piers Courage

Em 1961, teve a primeira experiência como piloto, ao andar com um Austin A40 numa competição que tinha entre os pilotos inscritos um tal Graham Hill. Em 1963, Frank retornou à Inglaterra e se instalou em Londres, onde dividia um flat com o amigo (piloto) Piers Courage. Para arrumar dinheiro, trabalhou como garçom num restaurante que servia sopas, mas foi demitido pouco tempo depois por não prestar muita atenção no trabalho. “Naquela época eu era obrigado a usar um chapéu ridículo, que divertia os clientes no mesmo grau que me desagradava”. Ele também tentou a carreira de taxista, mas só durou três semanas no cargo.

Incapaz de bancar a vida como piloto, Frank virou mecânico do amigo Jonathan Williams na Fórmula Júnior e começou a viajar a Europa com a categoria. Frank continuou, vez ou outra, se aventurando nas pistas, mas no fim de 1966 ele percebeu que não iria muito longe como piloto e resolveu pendurar de vez o capacete e se dedicar ao sonho de ter a própria equipe. Para juntar o dinheiro necessário para realizar o desejo, Frank Williams começou a trabalhar com revendas de carros de corrida.

Frank comprou o Brabham BT26 para Courage competir em 1969

Em 1967, ele adquiriu um Brabham BT24 e inscreveu o companheiro de flat, Piers Courage, para uma prova em Brands Hatch. Vieram algumas provas na F3, F2 e F1, no Grande Prêmio da Holandade 1970, em Zandvoort, Courage faleceu após um forte acidente. Apesar da dor pela perda do amigo, Frank não se deixou abater e em 1972 expandiu a participação da equipe na F1 com a inscrição de dois carros que contavam com os pilotos Henri Pescarolo e José Carlos Pace. Estava nascendo então a equipe Williams, uma das mais vitoriosas na história da Fórmula 1, que será tratada em mais detalhes durante a semana, nos próximos capítulos deste especial sobre Sir Frank Williams.