Williams believes it has made a step forward with its troublesome FW42 but is unsure whether that progress will be reflected in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix.
The team lagged well over a second per lap slower than the next-slowest team in the first four rounds of the season. However at the last race in Spain they reduced that deficit to less than half a second.Williams also had the chance to develop the car further in the two-day test which took place at the Circuit de Catalunya last week.
“Following the race and test in Barcelona we believe that we have improved the performance of the FW42 and increased our understanding of the car and the tyres,” said senior race engineer Dave Robson.
“Whether this will show or not in Monaco is unclear due to the unique nature of the Monte Carlo circuit and unpredictable local climate.”
The team is yet to score a point this year but Monaco could offer them an opportunity, said Robson.
“We look forward to the challenge of Monaco knowing that we will need to make some changes to the car to suit this circuit and knowing how important it is to develop the drivers’ confidence over the course of the weekend.
“We also know that Monaco can spring a few surprises and we will be ready to use our excellent reliability and pit stop performance to exploit any opportunities that arise.”
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Jere (@jerejj)
21st May 2019, 12:57
I don’t think Monaco’s climate is any more unpredictable than the equivalents of many of the other current F1-venues, namely the likes of Spa, Silverstone, Interlagos, and to a lesser extent, Suzuka.
kpcart
21st May 2019, 13:44
No chance, Monaco is high down force, and downforce is what Williams is lacking. Because the lap is short, Williams lap time might not show it, but percentage to leader, I think they will be closer to the 107% rule than other tracks. Safety cars won’t help them either, I hope it rains!
Andrey Baydin (@minilemm)
21st May 2019, 15:55
Rolex unsure if stopwatch will reflect Williams car improvements.
EC (@dutch-1)
21st May 2019, 17:25
Hmm, based on all the experiences until now, Williams should be unsure if any circuit will reflect car improvements …..:-(
Shimks (@shimks)
22nd May 2019, 8:00
It is interesting that Williams are still willing to make statements such as these. At this point I would have thought it would be better to prove it on track first and explain the improvements afterwards rather than risking once again leaving themselves with egg on their faces.
Dale Foster
22nd May 2019, 14:06
@shimks I remember an interview with Patrick Head last season at Monaco bemoaning the way they were making crazy statements about the effect of their updates. I totally agree, shut up and show the pace on track.