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Williams determined to fight Force India for fourth - Lowe

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Williams is resolute on catching and passing Force India in the Constructors' championship despite its current deficit, says tech boss Paddy Lowe.

Williams trails its pink rival in the standings by a substantial 60 points, a result of the Grove-based outfit inconsistent performance this season.

But Lowe feels the second half of year holds promise for Williams, and overhauling Force India is its target.

"We won't give up on that," insists Lowe.

"I think we can be very strong at some other races this year, hopefully some of the ones coming up, and we'll aim to get better at exploiting the performance with points which we've also not been great at doing in the first half.

"First half term report is we 'could do better' -- could do a lot better. We'll go back to the second half with that mentality of trying to do that."

Williams 'open' to di Resta return in 2018

Williams trialed a few changes in the mechanical and aero department in this week's in-season test in Hungary.

The team's FW40 has consistently under-performed at high downforce venues, so work is now centered on improving its weakness in this area.

"There's a pretty clear pattern," he added. "We're not performing as we should at what you would call the max downforce circuits.

"Those are Monaco, Hungary and Singapore. But I'm never one to give up before I've got there. So we'll see what we can do before Singapore.

"There are some fairly significant bits that we're trying," continued Lowe.

"We're doing some interesting bits of R&D. Some are relevant for this year, but some are things we need to learn and understand for next year.

There's some important work going on, actually. It's a set of experiments, that's the best way to put it, which is how we always conduct our testing.

"Where that leaves us in terms of what we take racing is a downstream consideration."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.