Williams technical director Sam Michael has said that he will remain with the team until the end of this season at least, but has not ruled out being part of the team's restructuring process.
Having looked competitive during winter testing, Williams has endured its worst start to a Formula One season in its history, failing to finish a race until Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado came home 15th and 18th respectively in China. The disappointing performances have led to a review of the structure of the team, and Michael told Autosport he was not exempt from any changes.
"As technical director the technical performance of the car comes under my responsibility. I think the job that we have done this year clearly is not good enough. There are lots of different reasons why. But either way, whatever team you are, I can easily see that where we are at the moment is not good enough and that falls down to me. So, we are currently reviewing that inside Williams - I am contributing to that and I am happy to do what the team wants me to do to an extent. What I would not be happy with doing would be not changing anything - even myself. Even if everyone said everything is perfect, I know it is not.
So, I am not happy with the job that we have done as a group. I would review that anyway - including myself. I don't exclude myself from any of that. I, as technical director, have chosen the technical team that works for me - the aero team, the design team, the operations group, the vehicle dynamics, the KERS guys. They are all people that I have chosen to put in those positions, so if it doesn't work then it is my responsibility. That is what we are in the middle of at the moment. Not could be [changes], there will be. We are definitely changing the team - and that includes myself as well."
Despite stressing the importance of change, Michael did say he would not be leaving the team before the end of the season at least, as he remains committed to his contract.
"We all have contracts and I have a contract until the end of this season anyway. So regardless of what happened - whether any restructuring meant that I left Williams or not, I would not leave Williams before the end of the year because I will stick to my contract. But in terms of going through that process, I am pretty open-minded at the moment. But open-minded to the extent that we have to make some big changes, because what we have got at the moment going on is not working and it needs change."
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
Feeds: ESPNF1 Staff - Feedback
No comments:
Post a Comment