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Rob Smedley: It can get worse for Williams after nightmare 2019

Rob Smedley: "It can get worse" for Williams after nightmare 2019

14-01-2020 12:23
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Former Williams race engineer Rob Smedley says that things could get worse for the team despite their awful 2019, where they were miles off the pace at every Grand Prix. Williams scored just one point as they finished last in the constructors' standings for the second time in succession.

The team will also have the least experienced driver line up on the grid, with rookie Nicholas Latifi joining George Russell.

Smedley was Felipe Massa's engineer at Ferrari and Williams, when the team were going through happier times and he feels things can get even worse for his former employers.

He told Reuters: “There would always be a philosophy that it can’t get any worse.

“Having been around the block a few times in motorsport, and Formula One in particular, (I know) the reality is it can get worse than this.

“We talk about how it can’t get much worse than 2019, but we said that about 2018. And we said that about 2017. The reality is that 2020 can actually be worse than 2019.

“Anyone who thinks that you can turn things around from where Williams are now to suddenly arrive back in the top five of the championship, they are very much mistaken. It is just incorrect.”