Williams must improve

Despite Williams excellent 2014 Formula One World Championship season, it’s turning into a ‘what-if’ season for the team.

It is undeniable the improvement at Williams this season.

The improvements, whilst partly down to the switch from Renault to Mercedes, which has been inspired has also been down to the improvement in the driver pairing of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas and the other improvements within the team itself.

But with an improved car comes improved expectations and Williams potential success has almost come to soon for a team which is trying to rebuild from the ground up following a period in the Formula One wilderness.

Williams’ car is now so good that it should be a challenger for pole positions and race victories and certainly podium finishes behind Mercedes.

For the Belgium Grand Prix, it was thought that Williams should have looked stronger than they were and that errors once again, cost the team a big points haul.

Errors in qualifying saw Williams fail to challenge for pole position, whilst an error in the race by the team to realise that Felipe Massa’s issues was caused by debris from Lewis Hamilton’s second lap puncture saw Massa’s race ruined.

‘We need to review and improve the procedures, In many things, not just in that [the debris incident in the race]. Massa told Autosport Magazine.

‘In qualifying we didn’t do a perfect job in the procedures, so it’s something I’m working on and pushing very hard, but the team is growing. I hope it’s something that won’t happen anymore.’

Williams vehicle performance chief Rob Smedley also admitted to Williams failings in Belgium and during 2014.

‘We’ve probably dropped some points, it’s fair to say, We’re operating at a much better level than we were 12 months ago, that’s clear, but we’re not operating at a good enough level for winning races and eventually world championships.

‘Not just based on [Spa], but based on the journey this team is on, we do need to improve operations, and we will improve operations.’ he concluded.