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Williams wins race as F1's slowest bill payer

Published on 01 Jun 2018 09:24
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By: Jeroen Jonkers

Williams has emerged as the F1 team that pays its bills the slowest.

Also struggling on track in 2018, the once-great British team takes an average of 20 days past the due date before it settles outstanding invoices, the business insights company Dun & Bradstreet found.

But interestingly, it was the much bigger-budget teams of Mercedes and Renault that came in next, paying their bills just one day quicker than Williams.

A big gap to McLaren (8 days) followed, with Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso and Red Bull Racing paying bills only 1 day late. Force India and Sauber, both low-budget outfits like Williams, were the only teams to pay bills on time.

No data was available for Ferrari and Haas.

Compared to a year ago, the big mover was Force India, whose payment performance improved by 16 per cent. Williams, however, moved in the opposite direction, with a 14pc bill-paying blowout.

Deputy boss Claire Williams said recently the Grove based team has a tough road ahead, particularly with title sponsor Martini departing at the end of the year.

"We haven't done a good enough job and we need to really dig deep if we're going to make progress this year," she said. "It's going to be a really tough year which is great for the fans, just not so great for us at Williams."

F1 News Mercedes Renault Sauber Williams Red Bull Racing McLaren Ferrari Force India

Replies (10)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
Im beginning to wonder if McLaren is the new Williams, and Williams is the new Sauber...
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- Jun 1 2018 - 09:54
Norbert

Posts: 108
Claire Williams is lovely and sensible, but i'm afraid she's burning the candle at both ends.
She must be exhausted. There's a new Williams documentary out. I saw it on Netflix.
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- Jun 1 2018 - 11:33
Rindtchamp

Posts: 304
Williams are a joke these days, I think they should just close the doors and give up. Claire has turned the team into a laughing stock. I'm sure she's a lovely person but she simply does not have the talent or know-how to run an F1 team and it's really beginning to show.
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- Jun 1 2018 - 11:48
- 2GRX7
  
  Posts: 108
  Come on' man! Claire's not the issue! Their inability to hold onto a factory engine is the problem! The exorbitant costs to run a team is the problem. Key players were jumping ship long before she got on board. They couldn't, "get it done" with BMW, so what did BMW do? Bought a controlling stake in Sauber. That wasn't going to happen under father Frank. Additionally, look at Mercedes under McLaren. They weren't, "getting it done" under Dennis anymore, so what did they do?
  
  Look at any team that had a recent manufacture-backed purchasing component to its relationship and see where they are today (Sauber, McLaren). There's been a man and a woman in place at each team, post break-up.
  
  Those types of egos can make or break a team and as they get older and loose touch with modern times/business practices. These teams are result of mis-management by the then current "captains", not necessarily the ones that were left to clean up the mess.
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  Jun 1 2018 - 16:53
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  @2GRX7 You make good point, except that Claire is not new to Williams. Not only has she been at the helm for a while, but she was in a position of influence prior to becoming ' the boss.' The losing of Martini, the hiring of pay-drivers, the decrease in performance (after winning regular podiums at the beginning of her tenure)... all of these happened under her watch.
  
  I like Claire, but she's in charge. She needs to carry at least some of the blame for the embarrassing state of affairs at Williams. If her last name were not Williams, there is no way wouldn't have already been fired for what has happened.
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  Jun 4 2018 - 15:52
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  She were also the one to sign Mercedes and Martini, and several other lucrative deals. I dont think this is Claire's fault, at least not entirely, but time will tell. But something needs to happen at Williams. To be last with a Merc' engine is an abysmal performance, even this yeat.
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  Jun 4 2018 - 17:32
- 2GRX7
  
  Posts: 108
  @AJPennyPacker Some of the blame , yes! I agree! Influentially, yes, but most of the blame started before she became a decision-maker at Williams. Williams downfall started in 05' under the BMW partnership where sh*t started to hit the fan with both sides blaming each other and Williams took Heidfeld over Pizzonia (Petrobras "pay" driver). And don't let me remind you of Toyota's Kazuki Nakajima!
  
  Either way you look at it, Sir Frank was selling his soul! Then Pastor comes along OY VEY! Pastor Maldonado was securely in his 2nd year at Williams WAY before Sir Frank stepped down in Mar 13' and Claire was appointed Deputy Dir. and she wasn't even appointed to handle ops!
  
  In between all of this, Williams went PUBLIC, and the people that came in to handle operations may have been "fans" of Formula 1, but they didn't have any true experience in the historical day-to-day runnings of it- just look at non-Executive Dir.,Brad Hollinger's C.V. HAHAHAA!
  
  Where I securely place blame is at the feet of the board of directors, operational picks by that board, and Claire for not wrestling more power out of their hands!!! Uh oh-think I just broke the soapbox, haha!
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  Jun 4 2018 - 17:47
siggy74

Posts: 194
Say hello to the Paddy Lowe effect ;p
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- Jun 2 2018 - 01:36
Norbert

Posts: 108
Paddy needs to get thumb out. March down to Mercedes for explanation, then return and give pep talk to the team. Sleep at the factory sort the aero and re-build the monocoque sleeker and thinner. It looks too heavy. Claire has a newborn. Someone needs to step up and he’s not there just to soak up family money.
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- Jun 4 2018 - 14:21
talktohenry

Posts: 362
I don't blame Claire, the F1 business model is unsustainable, the crazy costs which have no benefit on the show are the problem. If deal makers who had car covered in sponsors, and top business men like Eddie Jordan couldn't make it profitable, then nobody can. Cut the silly costs immediately before the independents die as none of them are financially secure at the moment.
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- Jun 5 2018 - 11:01