New Williams technical director says team hasn't evolved with F1
Jun.24 - Williams needs a total overhaul to bring it up to modern Formula 1 standards.
That is not the claim of a critical observer, but of the once-great British team's new technical director Francois-Xavier Demaison.
Better known as 'FX', Demaison was appointed by new team boss and former Volkswagen colleague Jost Capito in March - finally filling the place left open by Paddy Lowe in mid 2019.
Since he started work, Demaison has been getting his head around Williams' current operations.
He now tells France's Auto Hebdo: "Williams cannot continue to function in the same way."
Last year, the Williams family finally left Formula 1, selling the Oxfordshire based team to Dorilton Capital, a New York-based private investment firm.
Demaison has been charged with pulling Williams off the back rows of the grid from a technical perspective.
"In Grove there are many people who have worked together for a long time. Everything is built around them," he said.
"As someone who has come from the outside, it was easy for me to fill in the gaps with a focus on efficiency. Without erasing the past, there is a lot to change.
"We've been doing the same thing for 20 years and that has to change. What worked 20 years ago no longer works, especially in Formula 1," Demaison added.
"The big problem is that Williams hasn't evolved at the same pace as Formula 1. The sport has become very complex, but it seems that some people are using that complexity to protect one another.
"For them, it's a big culture change," he insisted.
"Experience is important and cannot be bought, but it still has to be used wisely. In many ways I think Williams is still under the shadow of the death of Ayrton Senna.
"At Grove, a car has to be safe before it can be fast, but it actually has to be both."
✅ Check out more posts with related topics:
Capito obviously rates this guy , but he has zero F1 experience, maybe a good thing .....a feel slightly unfair to say, theyve been doing the same thing for 20yrs ,easy to forget they ONLY slumped to 5th in 2017 with a 5th and 3rd the two years before that, ok after that its a disaster, they just dropped off the cliff, but if i was a williams employee, reading this would sound like hes knocking them. im sure its just how the article is worded, well i hope it is, in March Capito said he didnt want to bring someone in whoyd change everything , but someone who adds value, to me this is in slight contrast to the tone of the above article, Time will tell .....
"in March Capito said he didnt want to bring someone in whoyd change everything , but someone who adds value, to me this is in slight contrast to the tone of the above article"
Shrop', more like a total contradiction., you're being to kind. AND, FX has been there since March...so where's the progress? They certainly have the PU to compete. I'm a huge Williams fan, along with McLaren. Mac seems to be making some progress, but Williams needs a huge move.....perhaps 2022 will be the real test.
Shrops shrugs his shoulders ahhh Ror , im just to much of a nice guy I suppose, never a crossed word that's my motto....smh
Running a succesfull wrc tech side, mmmm not quite f1 standards, those cars , hate to say it run like clockwork, seems like a Paddy lowe type a guy, 4 yrs winning and moves on , remember Paddy lol, sure Capito trusts him but 13 races a yr in wrc , its 23 this yr with mayb more to come 2nd thing VW build a car for 2013 and win with it in 1st yr and then repeat it for in total 4 yrs on the run, i do hope he isnt under the impression its that easy in F1
✅ Checkout the latest 50 F1 Fans comments.