McLaren, Williams, admit need for change

An anonymous engineer says struggling once-great F1 teams Williams and McLaren need to make sweeping changes.

Both British teams have enjoyed the highs of the pinnacle of motor racing, but both are now struggling notably in 2018.

One engineer who worked for both teams told Auto Motor und Sport: "Both are mature teams with loyal employees.

"But many people at McLaren and Williams have never known anything else. They don’t know how formula one has evolved or what other teams look like.

"If you tell them how the other teams have evolved, they don’t believe you. They live in their own world and the great heritage of their racing teams."

Both teams, however, acknowledge the need for change.

Claire Williams is thought to be considering her role at the Grove based team, while McLaren boss Zak Brown says things must change at Woking too.

"We have to change our structure," he said.

"We have many good people who cannot show their talent. Decision making process are too long and communication is not good enough internally. And we need expertise from outside to understand new ways of thinking," said Brown.

At Williams, it is believed that many Force India staff will be snapped up if the Silverstone based team folds.

Another possibility is that Williams simply becomes a Mercedes ’B team’.

"It’s a very similar story going on at Williams as is going on at McLaren," said Claire Williams.

"We’re undertaking a full evaluation of our internal structures and processes at the moment. We haven’t completed that work yet, so we don’t have any news to announce."