I hope it doesn't happen. I would hate wearing the VW logo on my shirts and have this board filled with some people that I know and are proud to drive a VW. Pretty scary thought.

I would rather keep fighting in the midfield and remain independent than be part of VW.

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"Williams would never choose to leave Formula One. So long as we can rub together a few pennies and put together a half-decent budget, we are going to go racing."

The VW ppl are fanaticals about their brand & cars.
Comparable to BMW fans during the early 2000's - & we know how that went here on this board. LOL!

Quote:

Bond
The VW ppl are fanaticals about their brand & cars.
Comparable to BMW fans during the early 2000's - & we know how that went here on this board. LOL!

nothing we can't handle!

If VW want to enter F1 along the lines of 80's where they are major partners and not team owners it would be a very useful partnership.

I would like to see us teamed up with a manufacturer again. We need their input, but not their board room politics. The only problem that I see with Williams attracting a manufacturer is that we have not done enough to show that we are a team on the rise. It touches on gpl's criticism of Sam, where we have not had a truly competitive car for a while now.

It also depends on VW's marketing. If VW wants to expand in India then FIF1 may be a better choice.

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Williams and proud of it.

Quote:

pgj

Quote:

Bond
The VW ppl are fanaticals about their brand & cars.
Comparable to BMW fans during the early 2000's - & we know how that went here on this board. LOL!

If VW want to enter F1 along the lines of 80's where they are major partners and not team owners it would be a very useful partnership.

Agreed. If we enter into a works partnership with a manufacturer again then we would require them to trust us with getting on with the business of bulding the car and racing.

The value it would bring to us in terms of prestige and attractiveness to sponsors (as well as use of VW group corporate resources) would surely be enough to turn this team around.

I wonder which of their brands they would pick? It wouldn't necessarily be Porsche. Audi may well be the brand they want to market but I would love it to be Bentley or Bugatti! The latter may also be viewed as compatible with our livery scheme (although, of course, SFW has changed it in the past to accomodate sponsors so I don't see why now would be different).

It's possible too that they may divide their brands amongst, say, 2-3 teams. Force India-Audi, Lotus-Bentley and Williams-Bugatti in 2013, lol

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 19/03/2010 14:59 by MansellsMoustache.

Quote:

pgj

I would like to see us teamed up with a manufacturer again. We need their input, but not their board room politics. The only problem that I see with Williams attracting a manufacturer is that we have not done enough to show that we are a team on the rise. It touches on gpl's criticism of Sam, where we have not had a truly competitive car for a while now.

It also depends on VW's marketing. If VW wants to expand in India then FIF1 may be a better choice.

Here in the States, VWUsa has become a big sponsor of the Washington Capitals hockey team in the last year.
They have the world's most dynamic player in Alex Ovechkin & they play in the nations capital.
& they are "NEXT" as ESPN likes to anoint the heir apparent to the throne.

So I can fully see that marketing strategy NOT aligning with Williams atm.

Bugatti racing Merc. Now there is a throwback!

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Williams and proud of it.

Having VW as a team would be so cool! I´d love to see that happen. Sorry, I´m one of those VW-fanatics! But they already said that if they join, they wouldn´t necessary call it VW, they might call it Skoda, Audi, Seat or other brand they own.
For Williams I wouldn´t mind having them as partners...

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F1? F1?
IT´S THE 2010 WORLD CUP IN SOUTH AFRICA!!!
Way to go Ghana!!! Keep it up...

For Williams to win without manufacturer backing would be sweet. Plus sticking with Cosworth would allow the team to build without the risk of future withdrawal calamities.

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Quite early last season, the story began to break that all was not well between Williams and Toyota. The Cosworth link just would not go away.

There was also talk of a manufacturer and something to do with a new investor. If VW came into F1 would it want to build a production facility for F1 engines or is there the possibility of them investing in Cosworth? This would allow VW to take the kind of technology, that it says is a prerequisite for it entering F1, away and integrate it into its mass produced engine production. As soon as an acceptable specification for an F1 engine is agreed VW could send the Cosworth R&D facility some of its own people to develop the new engine and take the 'science' back to VW.

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Williams and proud of it.

Alternatively, they could buy some Cosworths and just badge them as Audi or whatever for a fee that would help Cossie with development. Like Ford did, or Merc and Ilmor. Then, like you say pgj, get their own people involved too.

That kind of fits with VW not wanting to spend huge amounts or become too heavily involved with building their own facilities etc.

Even with the cost-reductions (which, btw, I'm sceptical will ever be as effective as some hope) we still need something a little extra to bring us back on level terms with McLaren adn Ferrari - which is where we belong.

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Agreed. It may come about through a shareholding and additional sponsorship. VW may bring some of their partners with them as additional sponsors if anything comes of it.

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Williams and proud of it.

I found an FIA document regarding 2011 regs - dated in 2007 - that shows VW Group as being one of the manufacturers copied as an FYI:
[www.fia.com]

Interesting...that they have sniffed around before in earnest.
It's not like every1 gets copied. LOL!

Williams Honda and Williams Renault were useful partnerships. I think it is a necessary evil really . . . I am not sure the budget cap will ever happen in any meaningful way.

There are now four teams with millionaires behind them - Red Bull x 2, Force India and Virgin. Williams does need funding from somewhere.

@Bond

That is a cracking find. I had never heard about the Formula One Manufacturer's Advisory Committee (FOMAC?). VW is clearly a member though.

There is some interesting stuff in there. Including automatic ride hight adjustment (active suspension?) and automatic wing adjustment to reduce turbulence to following cars.

I wonder what the status of the document is.

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Williams and proud of it.

Quote:

Gunk
Williams Honda and Williams Renault were useful partnerships. I think it is a necessary evil really . . . I am not sure the budget cap will ever happen in any meaningful way.
There are now four teams with millionaires behind them - Red Bull x 2, Force India and Virgin. Williams does need funding from somewhere.

Absolutely, 100% agree

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GO TEAM WILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote:

pgj
There is some interesting stuff in there. Including automatic ride hight adjustment (active suspension?) and automatic wing adjustment to reduce turbulence to following cars.

I wonder what the status of the document is.

That was the reason I was digging around to get some clarification on some of the dialogue you & crusty were having on ride height.
It appears that some of those ideas may have led to research which ultimately benefited some of these teams with supposed ride adjustments or air stalling.
& where the VW/Audi Group is an addressee.

Terrific research.

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Williams and proud of it.

i wouldn't read too much into the inclusion of VW on that list (with regards to them coming on board with williams), ford are also on there.

seems to me that document is aimed at getting input from all the major manufacturers on how the FIA can get the teams to focus their development efforts on technologies that can be applied directly to the domestic car market. it may have been this document that led to VW mentioning they'd be interested if they could introduce the "world engine"

Just going back to names/brands, has everyone forgotten that Audi is the successor to Auto Union and probably still bears the rights to that historic Grand Prix brand. The thought of Ferrari, Mercedes and (Williams) Auto Union fighting it out again is mouthwatering. A lot of pride there, I suspect.

Yes. The point that was being raised is the length of time that VW has been on the edge of F1 though.

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Williams and proud of it.