WILLIAMS IN MELTDOWN
Testing fiasco as new car fails to arrive
FAlleN Formula one giants Williams will sit out the first two days of pre- season testing, at least — a farce that places the future of technical director Paddy lowe in doubt.
Sportsmail understands that he has lost the confidence of his engineers after failing to ensure the car was ready for yesterday’s opening running in Barcelona.
Insiders have indicated that the Briton was too lackadaisical about hitting deadlines despite repeated warnings.
Williams’s latest plan is to fly the car to spain tonight — a journey of some seven hours from the doors of their factory in Grove, oxfordshire, to the Circuit de Catalunya. lowe, 56, is also expected in the paddock tomorrow, the penultimate day of the opening week’s testing, to see the car on to the track.
Another delay to the schedule, or unreliability, might spell a speedy end to the Cambridge graduate’s second stint at Williams, a proud organisation that won 16 world titles with heroes such as Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost.
Founder Frank Williams, 76, was knighted for the success he devoted his life to creating.
The team, now run by Frank’s daughter Claire, 42, finished bottom of the table last season, but she spoke optimistically last week of turning a page.
To this end, Williams switched from their traditional navy-andwhite livery to a brighter shade of blue — a distinctive break from the past, as Claire unveiled a lucrative new title partnership with RokiT, a telecommunications company.
Nobody at Williams would comment on lowe’s position but an observer close to the scene said: ‘ Paddy underestimated the changes he was brought in to affect. It is a total mess and so sad. People are very cross.’
The team, including new British driver George Russell, who turned 21 yesterday, ate lunch miserably in their paddock home, waiting for the car to show up.
In contrast, sebastian Vettel led the timing sheets for Ferrari. ‘you are not meant to say it on day one of testing, but that was a perfect day,’ said the German.
Not quite so for kimi Raikkonen. His Alfa Romeo — formerly sauber — was no sooner launched at the track just before testing began than the Finn spun into the gravel at turn five. It brought out the first red flag, just five minutes into the action. The former Ferrari man was uninjured and the car safely recovered.
Mclaren’s Carlos sainz was second quickest overall. And, even if the spaniard was running on vapours, it was reason for hope after the team’s abysmal 2018.
lewis Hamilton was ninth, a position that tells us little about what to expect when the racing starts in Melbourne on March 18.