DECEMBER 18, 2019

Williams not commenting on Chester rumours

Recently ousted Renault technical boss Nick Chester could be set to join F1 backmarker Williams.

Recently ousted Renault technical boss Nick Chester could be set to join F1 backmarker Williams.

After a disappointing 2019, Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul said the team's drivers and engine are now strong, "so by elimination, there is the chassis".

Chester, though, could find refuge at Williams, the once-great independent British team.

"We never comment on personnel issues and certainly not on rumours," Claire Williams is quoted as saying by Speed Week.

In Abu Dhabi, she had said Williams already has a "good technical team", but admitted: "Of course you always look around the paddock.

"But we're not in a rush to replace Paddy Lowe. We want to do the right thing for Williams."

2018 Williams driver Sergey Sirotkin said recently that he thinks the embattled team should focus now on 2021, to "get the most out of the new regulations".

Claire Williams admits that the new rules are both an opportunity and a challenge for a team like Williams.

"I think it will be slightly easier for the top three teams with bigger budgets," she said.

"For us, it is a real challenge back at the factory, trying to run those two programs, for next year, for 2021.

"Really we're looking at 2019 and 2020 as one long campaign, but we wanted the 2021 regulations to come in. We lobbied hard for them so we've just got to deal with the problem head on," Williams added.

(GMM)