Schumacher pinpoints reason for Williams woes

Williams

Schumacher pinpoints reason for Williams woes

Is he right?

Matthew Scott

Friday 22 March 2019 12:01

Ralf Schumacher, who won all six of his F1 victories with Williams, thinks the problem at the ailing British team could be its management. After finishing bottom of the constructors' standings in 2018, Williams look set to struggle again in 2019 after a dreadful start.

Williams were late to pre-season testing with their car, which ran significantly slower than the rest at the Australian Grand Prix, with Robert Kubica and George Russell finishing last.

Chief technical officer Paddy Lowe was placed on gardening leave ahead of the season amid the team's woes.

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Schumacher told motorsport-total.com that the struggling Grove outfit is currently being run with "fear and terror", adding it was the same as when Sir Frank Williams ran the team alone in the 70s.

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"Williams has a very special leadership style. As long as Patrick Head was there it was balanced," he said.

"It's a style of leadership from the 70s and 80s, a bit of a reign of fear and terror. It's a shame, because I think people need to be motivated."

Head, though, has long retired, and the team is now run by Sir Frank's daughter Claire.

"With the current structure, Williams cannot get the best out of its employees, because there is no team cohesion," Schumacher said. "The engineers are working against each other more than with each other.

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"Unfortunately, Claire has kept her father's habits, and she should certainly wonder if that is the right job for her. Perhaps Williams' team management needs to be restructured.

"A man [Lowe] who has just been fired was very successful at other teams, and even he failed to put Williams back on track. That's enough to start asking questions."