Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsWilliams

Smedley tells Williams to capitalise on Spa chance

40

Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley says the team needs to capitalise on a circuit which will suit its car at the Belgian Grand Prix.

While Williams has struggled on low speed tracks, the fast and flowing Spa-Francorchamps circuit should play to the FW37's strengths. With just two podiums to its name so far this season, Smedley has called on Williams to make sure it maximises the opportunity available to it this weekend.

"Returning from the summer break we are all refreshed and absolutely raring to go; the team spirit and motivation at Williams is tangible as we look forward to challenging for podium positions in the second part of the year," Smedley said.

"Spa should be a circuit that suits the FW37 and we therefore have to capitalise on this. The long straights twinned with the long sweeping corners in sector 2 are definitely characteristics where we’ve seen this year’s car perform really well.

"The weather is an important factor in Spa and we therefore have to be ready for all circumstances. We have been doing a lot of homework in this area recently and the team has made excellent inroads."

And Smedley admits he is one of many in F1 who regard the Belgian Grand Prix as one of the best on the calendar.

"Belgium is such a fantastic Grand Prix for the teams and the fans alike. It encapsulates the purity of Formula One very well, which is simply about the best cars in the world racing around the best circuits, and we are lucky to visit here each year."

Technical feature: Take a closer look around Lewis Hamilton's steering wheel

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

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.