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Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Discussion started by Stuart L , 17 September, 2017 14:41
Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Stuart L 17 September, 2017 14:41
Guy Martin plugged into Williams mechanic crew for I think Spa Grand Prix, hence speed special 8pm tonight.

Heads up to watch.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Stu69 17 September, 2017 20:14
Put. Guy in Massas car!

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Stuart L 17 September, 2017 20:40
Good programme, 100% Williams.our pit crew is mega!

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
EagleF1 17 September, 2017 20:59
I was on a plane from Milan Bergamot with some of that crew, poor bunch got stuck with me in the departure lounge for an hour.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
AlanJones 17 September, 2017 22:17
Was he in Italy too Eagle? I saw him in Belgium on tellie but I must have missed Martin in Monza. Was on the paddock at Monza on the Thursday and didn't see him when I was out scouting at the Williams motorhome. Anywhere I can see this item back online?




https://i.ibb.co/BsYLL8h/1992-Formula1-Williams-FW14-B-001-1440-01.jpg

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
EagleF1 17 September, 2017 23:02
Not this year but mostly the same Williams crew, was a lucky flight plenty of williams and RedBull guys (and Karun Chandok) to talk to

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
EagleF1 17 September, 2017 23:04
Actually I think Monza is a good race to go to if you want to mix it with F1 folk.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
AlanJones 18 September, 2017 05:39
I was at Monza on General Admission (and had a friend who got me on the paddock on Thursday).
I usually go to Grands Prix on General Admission because there is more atmosphere amongst the fans there in my opinion. But whilst I've been to Monza before, it was ludicrous this year. Waves amongst the fans being done, chanting, clapping, cheering, booing against everything Hamilton did, massive outburst of cheers and admiration and emotion when a small part of Schumi was shown on the screens, Italian fans really breathe Formula One. It is literally the best Grand Prix to visit if you ever want to experience real emotion. I've never experienced it anywhere else of the other Grands Prix I've visited.




https://i.ibb.co/BsYLL8h/1992-Formula1-Williams-FW14-B-001-1440-01.jpg

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Stu69 18 September, 2017 20:46
Just watched this. Really good.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
IanSmithISA 19 September, 2017 04:56
Good morning,

I find it slightly worrying that the team is undertaking this sort of publicity stunt when there are other areas of concern.

It is easy to say that it is only a few people out of 600 spending a day or two slightly diverted from their main tasks and it resulted in lots of Martini logos on TV.

On the other hand the program is not going to be mainstream viewing and it is a diversion, if you believe that the team has lost its way then this sort of thing just confirms it. :-)

Of course the team may have a master plan that is not yet publicly disclosed apart from Paddy Lowe (Pat Symonds, Mike Coughlin, Sam Michael) is going to be the savior.

Over 2017, 2018 and 2019 Williams has in the order of £30 million of debt repayments to make, they also have another £30 million of revolving credit although it is much less clear how much of this is in use.

If Martini have indicated that they will extend their deal or there is another big deal then this debt is slightly less worrying, but given that fifth seems likely to be the best possible constructors placing this year with Renault forcing Williams down to sixth being believable this has to be a concern.

I can understand why on balance Honda power (and possibly money) would be a worse deal then remaining with Mercedes, but I have much more difficulty in understanding why the idea was shut down so quickly.

So is Sir Frank too far out of the day to day operations meaning that the obsession and focus needed to make a successful F1 is lacking?

Never mind, there was a 30 minute program on Channel 4 (F1 meets Claire Williams) and then this hour long program.

Any chance of hiring Ron Dennis for a bit of a gee-up?

Bye

Ian

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Stuart L 19 September, 2017 09:12
Ian

Like hearing your contra view.

I recall you posted the concern at Williams celebrating positive ebitda but your concern that measure was not great for very high depreciation and unsure cash flow businesses.

We get Williams half year results next week, so I think we will get a clearer understanding if debt post any payment received from Mercedes for bottas and signing on / shares associated with Paddy.

As for the programme Speed, the team has to connect more and is doing so, so personally I think we are doing better for sponsor engagement than before and that gives us a future.

Hope you will give us your considered commentary on their results next week.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
AlanJones 19 September, 2017 10:06
You can't reach fans (and their money) if you don't reach out to them. Getting guy to do so on prime time was a way of connecting. The future will show if it was worth it. But it sure as hell didn't do anything wrong.
Williams is better off this way than having to acknowledge a doom scenario like Ian scripted. For the fan, every bit of positive marketing is enhancing the appeal to the team. Every bit of negative news is cutting that away. So plain logic states why this bit with Guy was produced Ian.
It doesn't mean that the team shouldn't address the looming problems at hand. But at least it is diverting the attention of the mainstream fans away from any trouble that might be there.




https://i.ibb.co/BsYLL8h/1992-Formula1-Williams-FW14-B-001-1440-01.jpg




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 19/09/2017 10:08 by AlanJones.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Stu69 19 September, 2017 10:13
Hang on. If it was Speed with Guy Martin at Mclaren everyone would be in up roar, "why wasn't it Williams" they would be saying. This type of program is part of the marketing mix that Williams needs to do to attract and keep new sponsors.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Duffer 19 September, 2017 11:53
Marketing is as important as performance. This is solid marketing and should be applauded. I doubt it takes anything away from the development, and in fact will only serve to aid it in the long run.

Well done williams. Out of the box innovative idea.



http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/jock298/Duffer_2Sig.png

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
IanSmithISA 20 September, 2017 04:58
Good afternoon,

I wasn’t suggesting that one T.V. program was the end of civilisation but that it is part of a worrying trend, Williams are trying to do something pretty much unheard of in F1, pass the business on to the next generation.

This next generation is doing things very differently, as I am an outsider I have no idea if there is a lot of great news about to burst or if as I fear the next generation is too marketing lead.

We have had quite a lot of nostalgia recently not just the adaption of Lady Virginia Williams’ book but nearly every interview that Claire gives she talks about the team’s heritage.

So if we look at recent actions there have been some really positive ones.

The swap from Renault to Mercedes possibly saved the company from a dire situation but is also created a false dawn in 2014 when simple, by F1 standards, aerodynamics and a big power advantage moved the team up. Now that power advantage has mostly gone the team is dangerously close to where it was in 2013. But with debt.

Martini and Unilever (Rexona/Sure) sponsorship, although it is unclear if Martini will continue beyond the 5 years ending in 2018.

However we also have the apparent lack of interest in the Honda power unit, the release of Bottas and the selection of Lance Stroll.

It’s almost as it if there is a lack of urgency, a belief that the next few years don’t really matter, we are Williams we will survive and prosper.

If you look at the board members for Williams Grand Prix Holdings there is something that may be supportive of this concern.

There are two non executive directors, Nick Rose and Eddie Charlton these are people with massive amounts of business experience in very large businesses, directorships at firms like BT, BAE, Banque Paribas and HSBC.

Brad Hollinger, the guy who bought Toto Wolff’s shares created and a runs a very successful business in the Health Care sector in the USA but is not active in the day to day management.

Mike O’Driscoll Group the Chief Executive Officer is a Ford/Jag/Land Rover/Aston Martin career man.

All of these people are comfortable with and used to large and long term debt.

At the risk of stating the obvious whenever you are doing something you are not doing something else.

If we look at McLaren during a very successful period we see in 1992 the results of moving Gordon Murray from the race team to the F1 road car project, a car that many drooled over.

Interestingly given the lead time for this project and the amount of management time such a project must have consumed there seems to be an overlap with the end of McLaren Honda era and a period in the wilderness.

Williams turned up in 1991 with the FW14, the actively suspended car something that McLaren and everybody else didn’t have. Remember that this was not a completely new idea Lotus had been working on something similar.

By 1992 Williams were out qualifying the third placed car by over 2 seconds often closer to 3 seconds and McLaren picked up victories only when the Williams broke.

Honda left McLaren at the end of 1992 and Mclaren struggled for a while 5 victories in each of 92 and 93 then none until 1997 with 3. At least part of this was possibly due to not settling down with Cosworth as McLaren were just a customer albeit one with the latest spec and then Peugeot.

Even Mercedes power didn’t help until Adrian Newey showed up in 1998.

Ross Brawn went to Ferrari in 1996 and the team won the constructors championship in 1999, Adrian Newey joined Red Bull in Feb 2006 and 2009 was the first successful season.

So even if Paddy Lowe is the genius that we all hope that he is it does seem unlikely that he will just walk in and next year’s car will suddenly be brilliant.

"If it was Speed with Guy Martin at Mclaren" I suspect that we would all be saying that Mclaren" would do anything to divert attention from their Honda partnership.

Bye

Ian



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 20/09/2017 05:17 by IanSmithISA.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
phatjack 21 September, 2017 01:21
Quote:
Duffer
Marketing is as important as performance. This is solid marketing and should be applauded. I doubt it takes anything away from the development, and in fact will only serve to aid it in the long run.
Well done williams. Out of the box innovative idea.

I think Claire understands marketing and that Williams Title Sponsor is more recognizable among your average consumer.

She (Claire) is looking to keep the legacy alive. I think she (Claire) should forge her own identity for the "TEAM" but applaud her that in a male dominated sport she can make a difference.

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Duffer 21 September, 2017 10:30
Assuming it was Claire's brainchild...



http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/jock298/Duffer_2Sig.png

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
Mr. Pink 21 September, 2017 14:23
Actually it was an idea of Sophie Ogg our Head of Communications

[www.instagram.com]



http://img292.imageshack.us/img292/8830/logoqz0.gif
Sir Frank: "It's what we do, we love doing it. It's like oxygen, it fixes you".

Re: Tonight C4 - Speed with Guy Martin - Williams special
andy si 22 September, 2017 08:44
The guy looks like a crew member of F1 from the 70's or early 80's with his appearance... looking retro in a business that sterilized over time. thumbs down


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