Williams F1 team has reiterated that it has no desire to become a B-team of a manufacturer like Mercedes, Ferrari or Renault. Teams like Haas, AlphaTauri, Alfa Romeo, and Racing Point have enjoyed great success thanks to close ties with Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes. But Williams which is a Mercedes customer has reiterated that it sees more value in retaining its independence. "We can see advantages but we don't want to become a B-team," Williams team principal Simon Roberts explained.
"We want to retain our independence, but we want to be more competitive. So for us, looking forward, we're open to extending a relationship but the specification of that would depend on what we think we're strong at, internally, and where we think we need help and support," he added.
While the team has seen an improvement in performance over previous years, it's still not the most competitive on the grid. The new ownership is expected to change that
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With the cost cap in F1 kicking in next season, the field will be closer than ever as big manufacturers wouldn't be able to spend the big-bucks they spend on the development of their cars. In fact, the cost cap has forced teams like Ferrari to transfer some of their personnel to Haas and even set up a facility for them in their Maranello base.
According to Roberts, Williams should be independent but not at the cost of being uncompetitive. He explained that if Williams couldn't do something on its own, then it should be prepared to buy it from the best. The engine is a case in point where it sources it from Mercedes.
"Under the cost cap, you can't afford to be inefficient and that's what we're focusing on," he said.
"We need to make sure that if we're making chassis, we're really good at making our chassis and we apply that to everything in the car. But we are independent, we're going to remain independent but there is scope for collaboration," Roberts added.
Roberts also added things at the team hadn't changed ever since the Williams family sold the team to Dorilton Capital. He stated the philosophy of Claire Williams continued.
Clair Williams was the only female team principal in F1
"From the cultural fit with the team, there's a lot of synergy between the road map that Claire [Williams] had laid out and we're staying very true to that," he added. "We want to be a great place to work," he stated.
"We want to make sure we're caring and kind to all the people who work for us and we want to just do all the right things. In terms of the technology though, we now have the opportunity to invest and that's what we're doing. That's started already. There's not much impact of that on the car we're racing on now, but we will start to see that next year," he added.
