Williams delays start to pre-season testing programme!

ROKiT Williams Racing has been forced to delay the start of its pre-season testing programme, the British team opting to give itself an extra day to finish the build-up of its new FW42.

After the Grove-based outfit's 2019 launch earlier this week, deputy team principal Claire Williams had warned that Williams was pressed for time after undergoing over the winter "an extremely aggressive engineering programme", and would scrap its shakedown run initially scheduled for this weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya.

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"Our absolute priority is to always ensure we bring a car to the track that is the best that it can be and sometimes that takes longer than you’d anticipate or like," said Williams in a release on Sunday.

"It’s clearly not ideal, but equally it’s not the end of the world.

"We will obviously have our work cut out to recover the time lost but we still have seven days of testing left and we will be maximising that time to prepare the car for the first race."

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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.