OK, bear with me since I'm not an F1 or race car buff...
Senna expressed a lot of discomfort and concern about his Williams car while racing in the 94 season, but I assume he would have tested the car before signing the contract. Seems like an odd move on his part, but then again I'm not an expert.
Ayrton signed the contract in '93, there's no way that Williams would let him test while Ayrton was still in McLaren...
shareAre they that strict? I know Williams is a household name but why sign a contract without knowing if you'd feel comfortable driving the car.
shareActually Williams did seem like the best choice at the time.
Williams enjoyed total domination in 92 and 93, so Ayrton thought the domination would continue in 94.
But without the electronic aids (banned in 94), the Williams cars did not perform as expected...
McLaren was going to use Lamborghini in 94, but they switched to Peugeot.
I'm sure Ayrton would definitely stay with McLaren if they used the Lambo engine...
It's not that Williams is strict; F1 simply does not work that way. It's not like buying a car. You don't get to go for a test drive before you sign a contract. You sign and become a part of the team, before the car is even made for the current year, initiate with the team, and then test the car once it's built and continue to develop it before and during the season.
There was no indication that the Williams would be a bad car, especially after it dominated the last two seasons. It was the best move he could make at the time without pointlessly looking back in hindsight. The car was just too unstable and unpredictable after depending on electronics the last two years. Williams did iron out the problems of the car early-mid season to again give them the best car, but it was only after Senna's accident at Imola. Had he lived, he would have soon had a stable car and likely a path to the world championship.
Exactly. The FW16's first on-track test was probably December '93 or January '94, well after Senna had signed. And teams didn't have near the computer simulation power then that they do now to test designs in the virtual world before implementing them in the real world.
Crazy on a ship of fools...
When Senna signed for Williams he had no idea what the 1994 car would be like. The 94 car was originally designed for the electronic aids that were subsequently banned.
shareMcLaren couldn't win from the Williams in '92 and not much in '93 either. Williams was superior because of the advanced technologies. Senna signed with Williams, in '93, but at the start of the season in '94, the technologies of Williams got banned. (kind of like the blown diffusor in 2011 thad made Red Bull/Vettel dominant that is banned this season, hence no Red Bull/Vettel dominating).
Senna and Damon Hill had to deal with a car that had lost it's stabilisators etc. Too bad Williams got back on it's feet real fast AFTER Senna's death.
OK, bear with me since I'm not an F1 or race car buff...
Actually I believe the technical regulations for 1994 were announced during the 1993 season, before Senna signed with Williams. He was aware of the electronic restrictions.
There might also be an interview in the Bluray extras that mentions this as well...not sure though.
The car actually wasn't that bad. Senna got pole for the first 3 races. It was just on the Sunday that it didn't perform. However, as the season progressed it turned out to be quite a good car. Indeed, Damon Hill almost snatched the championship after Schumacher at the end.
shareYeah, Hill was 1 point behind Schumacher entering the last race of the season and was about to pass him for the race lead until Schumacher pulled a Senna/Prost and intentionally crashed into him to ensure Hill didn't win the title.
shareThat is a fair question. The Williams was coming on strong during 91 as well. So from 91 to 92 to 93 Senna could see that Williams was gaining fast. 92 convinced him he had to change and he tried to go to Williams in 93 but was blocked by Prost returning.
Once Senna arrived at Williams they were trying to reorganize their car with electronics being banned. The first few races the car was unstable and contradictory. It began to improve with the short wheel base version but sadly Senna ran out of luck. Had he not had the mechanical failure at Imola the season would have been something to witness.
Sad really.