- Williams
Smedley's Force India comments 'a bit out of order' - Head
Williams co-founder Patrick Head believes Rob Smedley's criticism of Force India after Felipe Massa and Sergio Perez tangled at the Canadian Grand Prix was "a bit out of order".
Smedley, Williams' head of vehicle performance, said Perez was to blame for the shunt and questioned whether the Force India should have been running after radio calls between driver and pit wall about the car's brakes. Smedley argued that Williams had ordered Valtteri Bottas to back off with brake issues in the same race and, in reference to Perez's Force India, said: "Why you leave a car out when you've got that sort of problem is a little bit beyond me."
After his comments had been reported, Force India responded with a statement from Perez saying the car was "perfectly driveable". Head believes Smedley's criticism was misplaced and probably made out of frustration.
"Any team that starts fourth and fifth on the grid, if you finish with one car seventh you are going to be very disappointed," Head told Sky Sports F1 Midweek Report. "I saw that Rob Smedley, the operations manager, had criticised Force India, which I think was a bit out of order. But it told me that he was massively disappointed after the race, and I think they would be and should be."
Head is no longer on the board of the F1 team but remains involved with the company through Williams Hybrid Power Limited. He believes the team has underachieved so far this season given the car at its disposal.
"I hope there will be other chances [to win] going forward, but it [Canada] was certainly a very good opportunity. Williams have really not achieved what the car is capable of this year, and they know that. Here was another event where that happened. It's something I'm sure they will put right, but you want to walk away with a lot of points and those are missing a bit at the moment."
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