And the first casualty of the 2020 season is...

[dinizintheoven]

Williams, probably.

At least, that's the scenario that all Williams fans should prepare for. Maybe they'll soldier on for a few more years under the same name, for heritage purposes, the way McLaren still does and the way Jordan doesn't, and the way Sauber didn't, then did, then didn't. Maybe they'll go the same way as Brabham, and if that turns out to be the case, then I hate to say I told you so, but I did, several times, and the evidence is all somewhere on this forum, buried under 3,782 posts. Maybe they'll get a sniff of the cash from Saudi Arabia and lap it up and then genuflect to their new overlords by shunning champagne on the podium, if they ever get there again... oh, wait, that already happened 40-something years ago, so I guess some things never change.

One thing's for sure, this wasn't entirely coronavirus-related. The results of recent seasons don't lie.

[DanielPT]

Unfortunately, this has been some 10 years in the making and the writing was on the wall for quite some time, perhaps quite as much as said decade. My Williams fan heart hurts quite a lot today, more so than in recent times as privateer owned teams haven't had an easy life in this manufacturer/big spenders dominated era. I still keep a faint hope that somehow they will get out of this unscathed and still with the Williams family (although Claire's management has been below par at best) ready to win some more and change the fact that Maldonado is still the last driver to win a race for Williams some 8 years ago.

[dr-baker]

I think deep down I have known this day was coming for about 10 years, but continued in the hope provided by the 2012 Spanish GP and the 2014 and 2015 teams championship positions, and by McLaren being able to pull themselves back from their Honda years (although different management structure).

[mario]

Unfortunately, this has been some 10 years in the making and the writing was on the wall for quite some time, perhaps quite as much as said decade. My Williams fan heart hurts quite a lot today, more so than in recent times as privateer owned teams haven't had an easy life in this manufacturer/big spenders dominated era. I still keep a faint hope that somehow they will get out of this unscathed and still with the Williams family (although Claire's management has been below par at best) ready to win some more and change the fact that Maldonado is still the last driver to win a race for Williams some 8 years ago.

In some ways, I'd say that it's more like 15-20 years in the making - it's also why I sometimes feel that the tendency for some to lump all blame onto Claire is a bit simplistic, as it feels like she's been lumped with decades of wrong decisions that have been progressively building up.

[Klon]

All of this could've been avoided if they had kept Barrichello in 2012. He would've increased their WCC position in 2012 to around P5, meaning more money down the road. Yes, this is oversimplifying a lot of issues and no, I don't care.

[mario]

All of this could've been avoided if they had kept Barrichello in 2012. He would've increased their WCC position in 2012 to around P5, meaning more money down the road. Yes, this is oversimplifying a lot of issues and no, I don't care.

In order to finish in 5th place in the WCC, that would require the team to have to score at least another 67 points on top of what they did score (they have to outscore Mercedes as, in the event of a tie, Mercedes would still be ahead on countback due to more podium finishes).

Now, if Barrichello were to replace one of those two drivers then, assuming that their relative points haul is not significantly different, that would require Barrichello to score about 100 points. That is quite a significant step, as it requires him to be one of the highest scoring midfield drivers and score a points haul close to that of Massa - admittedly, taking points from other drivers would lower that threshold, but it still points towards Barrichello needing to score significantly more than either driver.

Personally, whilst I think it is plausible he might have scored more points, I doubt that he would score quite that many more points than they would - maybe challenging Force India and being 7th, perhaps Sauber at an outside chance, but I think it's unlikely that he could get the team to 5th.