After a brilliant season in 1969, with a Brabham-Ford driven by Piers Courage (two second places), Frank Williams embarked into what seemed to be an eternal career as a back-marker in Formula 1.
In fact in the next season, not even Piers Courage's brilliance could make the De Tomaso-Ford competitive, and other great drivers, Brian Redman and Tim Schenken also failed to make the car fast, after Piers' untimely death.
In 1971 and 1972, Frank fielded Marches, experimenting with the first Williams designed car in 1972, the Politoys. In spite of having good drivers, such as Henri Pescarolo and Jose Carlos Pace, Williams' cars were mostly back-markers.
Having attained sponsorship from Iso-Rivolta and Marlboro, in 1973, Frank fielded upgraded versions of the Politoys, then a revamped car, which still used bits and pieces from the original Williams. In spite of the theoretically good sponsorship deal, the Iso-Marlboros were again back-markers, and got two points in the championship. Frank could be seen in race tracks carrying tires, and the team was most decidedly at the bottom of the food chain as far as F1 was concerned.
Arturo Merzario was retained for 1974, and actually had some outstanding performances with the Iso-Marlboro, starting 3rd in South Africa and finishing fourth in Italy. Notwithstanding, things were not all that well within Williamsland, for Arturo was not being paid as agreed. Merzario continued in the team in the early part of 1975, but when the promised payments did not materialize, he left the team 1/3 into the season. Jacques Laffite was lucky enough to post a second place in Germany, but Williams was mostly a laughing stock of the F1 fraternity by then.
A liaison with Walter Wolf, the purchase of the latest Hesketh design and hiring of Jacky Ickx as a driver failed to bring glories to Williams. In fact, for the first time since 1970, the team failed to score a single point in 1976, and looked more like the De Tomaso days. At the end of the season, Williams parted company with Wolf.
In 1977, while Wolf was winning races as a renamed team, Frank went back to the March route, and fielded a slow March-761 for Belgian driver Patrick Neve, with little or no impact on the circus.
The first iteration of Williams as a team, especially 1970 and 1976, and the first year of the reborn Williams team, 1977 looked more like the 3 teams that have become part of the F-1 fraternity since 2010, Caterham, HRT and Marussia.
I suppose these teams dream having a turn of events that lead Williams, in a short period of two years, to become a top team, in fact winning a championship 3 years after fielding the unsuccessful March for Neve. Of course, the millions brought by Saudi sponsors helped Williams leave its status a a laughable back-marker, turning it into a top team. At the proper time, incidentally. For within two years, the turbo revolution would make teams that could not attract engine partners, such as Fittipaldi and Ensign, irrelevant, causing their ultimate demise. Had Williams failed to produce that much speed when it did, it would likely die a certain second death.
The problem is that it was that much easier, in the late 70s, to turn things around. When Williams won its first championship, most teams still used the Cosworth-Hewland combo, and the difference was basically in chassis design. Williams was so successful in 1979, because it managed to improve on the Lotus 79 concept, like Ligier. Additionally, Williams linked up with Alan Jones and Patrick Head, largely responsible for the team's success.
How can a Marussia improve, with a Cosworth engine these days? Even Caterham, that has the benefit of Renault engines, is unlikely to surge ahead of teams that have a tremendous technological and financial edge over it.
Sure their dreams is to turn things around like Williams did way back when, but I reckon this is pretty much impossible these days. Their choice of drivers only compounds the problem.
They will remain at the bottom of the food chain, and the best they can do is scrap for 10th place.
Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and motorsport historian, based in Miami
In fact in the next season, not even Piers Courage's brilliance could make the De Tomaso-Ford competitive, and other great drivers, Brian Redman and Tim Schenken also failed to make the car fast, after Piers' untimely death.
In 1971 and 1972, Frank fielded Marches, experimenting with the first Williams designed car in 1972, the Politoys. In spite of having good drivers, such as Henri Pescarolo and Jose Carlos Pace, Williams' cars were mostly back-markers.
Having attained sponsorship from Iso-Rivolta and Marlboro, in 1973, Frank fielded upgraded versions of the Politoys, then a revamped car, which still used bits and pieces from the original Williams. In spite of the theoretically good sponsorship deal, the Iso-Marlboros were again back-markers, and got two points in the championship. Frank could be seen in race tracks carrying tires, and the team was most decidedly at the bottom of the food chain as far as F1 was concerned.
Arturo Merzario was retained for 1974, and actually had some outstanding performances with the Iso-Marlboro, starting 3rd in South Africa and finishing fourth in Italy. Notwithstanding, things were not all that well within Williamsland, for Arturo was not being paid as agreed. Merzario continued in the team in the early part of 1975, but when the promised payments did not materialize, he left the team 1/3 into the season. Jacques Laffite was lucky enough to post a second place in Germany, but Williams was mostly a laughing stock of the F1 fraternity by then.
A liaison with Walter Wolf, the purchase of the latest Hesketh design and hiring of Jacky Ickx as a driver failed to bring glories to Williams. In fact, for the first time since 1970, the team failed to score a single point in 1976, and looked more like the De Tomaso days. At the end of the season, Williams parted company with Wolf.
In 1977, while Wolf was winning races as a renamed team, Frank went back to the March route, and fielded a slow March-761 for Belgian driver Patrick Neve, with little or no impact on the circus.
The first iteration of Williams as a team, especially 1970 and 1976, and the first year of the reborn Williams team, 1977 looked more like the 3 teams that have become part of the F-1 fraternity since 2010, Caterham, HRT and Marussia.
I suppose these teams dream having a turn of events that lead Williams, in a short period of two years, to become a top team, in fact winning a championship 3 years after fielding the unsuccessful March for Neve. Of course, the millions brought by Saudi sponsors helped Williams leave its status a a laughable back-marker, turning it into a top team. At the proper time, incidentally. For within two years, the turbo revolution would make teams that could not attract engine partners, such as Fittipaldi and Ensign, irrelevant, causing their ultimate demise. Had Williams failed to produce that much speed when it did, it would likely die a certain second death.
The problem is that it was that much easier, in the late 70s, to turn things around. When Williams won its first championship, most teams still used the Cosworth-Hewland combo, and the difference was basically in chassis design. Williams was so successful in 1979, because it managed to improve on the Lotus 79 concept, like Ligier. Additionally, Williams linked up with Alan Jones and Patrick Head, largely responsible for the team's success.
How can a Marussia improve, with a Cosworth engine these days? Even Caterham, that has the benefit of Renault engines, is unlikely to surge ahead of teams that have a tremendous technological and financial edge over it.
Sure their dreams is to turn things around like Williams did way back when, but I reckon this is pretty much impossible these days. Their choice of drivers only compounds the problem.
They will remain at the bottom of the food chain, and the best they can do is scrap for 10th place.
Carlos de Paula is a translator, writer and motorsport historian, based in Miami
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