Barrichello identifies cause of trouble for Williams: 'paydrivers'

Williams is now a few years at the back of the Formula 1 grid. After a good period at the beginning of the hybrid era, you could say that this is a temporary dip, but according to Rubens Barrichello, this downward spiral has started earlier and is caused by paying drivers.

Barrichello, who ended his Formula 1 career at Williams at the end of 2011, says in the Rusty's Garage podcast that appointing paying drivers has not been able to help the team in difficult times. According to the Brazilian, a team always needs one experienced driver to solve problems.

"Unfortunately it has often been about money over the last ten years. Instead of paying a driver, they thought it was a good idea to take money from drivers and survive. But if you see where the team is now, you know that wrong decisions were made back then."

Barrichello missed possible victory in 2012

The best example of this is the 2018 season, when Williams, with Lance Stroll and Sergei Sirotkin, employed two inexperienced and paying drivers. However, there might be some resentment in Barrichello's statement. In 2012, the year after he quit, Williams racet with two 'pay drivers' in the form of Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna.

Maldonado even managed to win a Grand Prix that season, in a car that, according to Barrichello, was largely developed by him. According to the Brazilian, he and the team sacrificed the previous season for it. "It was difficult not to be in that car then, especially when they won in Barcelona".