[PapaofGags]

https://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-news/kubic...-williams/

Robert Kubica says he is not sure who his race engineer will be in 2019.
After an eight year hiatus to recover from a devastating arm injury, the now 33-year-old Pole is returning to the grid with Williams next year.

But he told Eleven Sports in Abu Dhabi that he doesn't know what engineer he will work with in 2019.
"This was one of the main topics before signing the contract," Kubica said.
"But I have not received an answer yet. I tried to find out this weekend so that I can work with this person in the tests, because it's already time to start working well.

"But for now I don't know," he added.
Kubica hinted that one of the problems is that many people are fleeing Williams, the once-great team that has hit rock bottom in 2018.

"It's not an easy period because many people are leaving," he said.
"And it's difficult to find good employees when they see that the team does not have a fast car. Most people have a passion and want to work in the best teams."

[PapaofGags]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/140825...the-trench

Williams F1 team reached 'bottom of the trench' performance in 2018.

The Williams Formula 1 found the "bottom of the trench" performance-wise in 2018, according to chief technical officer Paddy Lowe.

Williams finished 10th in the constructors' championship, the worst result in its history, as its FW41 proved fundamentally flawed and its young drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin scored just seven points between them.

That result followed four podium-finishing seasons in which the team managed to finish in the top five.

Lowe told Autosport: "It's been a very tough season for the team, but also for me personally, I would say one of the toughest years that I'd had in Formula 1.

"Certainly in the middle of it, as different players started to appreciate what we were dealing with, it was a sort of slow realisation.

"That was a really, really tough time.

"But on the good side I think we found the bottom of the trench in terms of performance.

"That is actually a healthy process for the team to go through for the long term."

[Jody Barton]

I like Paddy as a person, but he did similar things while at McLaren too. He's not as good as many think he is and he needs others around him to plug the huge gaping holes in his own proficiencies, he had that at Mercedes, and to a lesser extent McLaren, but I doubt he'll ever have it at Williams given their budget. I'm quite fearful for Williams.

[Monster Hesh]

Williams to miss first day of testing, scheduled to run on Tuesday.

https://www.crash.net/f1/news/912940/1/w...-barcelona

While it is only one day, it will still of been a rush build. Not a good start for the a team that is already at the back of the grid. Question is, will it even run during the first test...

[morini]

Williams to miss first day of testing, scheduled to run on Tuesday.

Ominous...
Very bad sign for things to come IMO

[Jody Barton]

I read this earlier on today, and I'm hearing they might not make it to the second day either. This is a really, really bad sign for Williams. I'm actually quite fearful for the team. We might be seeing that Mercedes buy out any day soon now.

[PapaofGags]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mutiny-in-...ays-mount/

‘Mutiny’ in the ranks as Williams’ delays mount.

Facing another morning on the sidelines while their rivals test, Williams are facing a “mutiny” against “under-performing” technical director, Paddy Lowe.

So says the Daily Telegraph.

Although expected to hit the track on Wednesday afternoon after their FW42 arrived at the Circuit de Catalunya at 4am, Williams have already missed two full days of pre-season testing.

With only eight in hand, that’s a quarter of their on-track running down the drain.

And Lowe is bearing the brunt.

According to the Telegraph, “patience with Lowe, the team’s beleaguered technical chief, is at breaking point.”
The report adds: “Lowe, who presided over a nightmarish 2018 campaign in which Williams finished bottom of the Constructors’ standings, has now failed even to deliver a car to the start line on time.

“His fall from grace has mirrored Williams’ own: just over two years ago, Lowe was still Mercedes’ top engineering guru, a central figure in the success of Lewis Hamilton, but he has since become the fall guy in the decline of one of British motorsport’s greatest companies.

“There is understood to be fury within Williams not just at the car’s shortcomings, but at Lowe’s inability to accept responsibility.”

[forzaferrari]

No surprise then he kept a low profile and swerved his media appearance

[Monster Hesh]

While I cant quite remember Lowe's jump to Williams, it makes me wonder, did he leave Mercedes of his own accord, or was he relieved by Mercedes...

I 'member saying to my brother I felt a great deal of comfort and promise when Paddy turned up at Williams. How misplaced that statement has turned out to be.

One things for sure, you really can't blame Stroll for doing everything his family's wallet could do, to get out of that situation.

[Jody Barton]

Hesh, I always said Lowe was pants and over rated. Ask any McLaren fan and they'll tell you that he was the beginning of the end for the team. His cars were always gimmick laden in the hopes one of them would turn out to be the next double diffuser, and they never did. The telling thing for me when he left was how amiable it all was for F1. I think McLaren felt like they'd dodged a bullet.