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Williams disagrees with McLaren view

Claire Williams disagrees with McLaren’s Ron Dennis that a team is unable to win championships as an engine customer under the current regulations.

McLaren switched from Mercedes to Honda power units for 2015, with Dennis saying last year that it is impossible to challenge for titles without being a works outfit or having your own dedicated engine supplier. Williams continues to be a Mercedes customer but the deputy team principal doesn’t believe its current partnership is a hinderance to its chances of success.

“Of course there are benefits to being a team with your own engine manufacturer backing you - not least financial benefits - but from our perspective we have a great relationship with Mercedes,” Williams said. “We have from the very beginning and it’s only developing and growing and improving as time moves forward.

“Really it’s up to us. You don’t just win a grand prix on your engine, it’s about the whole package. So we need to make sure that we’ve got the whole package in order to challenge Mercedes and that’s our fight to have.

“We at Williams don’t believe that being a customer team means you have certain boundaries in which to compete, it’s an open playing field in our eyes.”

Click here to learn about a key Mercedes power unit change in 2015

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.