Williams' Latifi signs off with 160-lap productive day

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Nicholas Latifi concluded his last day of pre-season testing with the fourth fastest time and 160 laps, confirming the healthy form of Williams' FW43 ahead of its race debut in Melbourne.

While a damp track in the morning hampered Williams' program on Thursday, strong reliability led to a trouble-free afternoon that allowed the team to build on its data and complete more setup work.

"Overall it was a positive day and I got to experience the car in both trims that you would in a race weekend," said Latifi.

"We focused our morning on performance runs and I was finally able to feel the limits of the car.

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"Unfortunately, the track conditions this morning hampered our running, and from that point of view our performance simulations weren’t as representative as I would have liked.

"In the afternoon we moved on to conducting our race simulations and I was able to get a lot of laps on the board."

The next time the Canadian rookie drives his FW43 will be in Australia next month, when the who will step into the limelight for the very first time in Melbourne, when the 24-year-old will line up on the F1 grid for the very first time.

"This was the last time I will have had the chance to drive the car, I am looking forward to arriving in Melbourne and making my Formula One Grand Prix debut with the team," he said.

Dave Robson, Williams' head of vehicle performance, said the team focused on long runs in the afternoon, helping Latifi get acquainted with Pirelli's harder compounds in race trim.

"After lunch we were able to complete some higher fuel running, giving Nicholas some valuable experience of managing the C2 and C3 compounds, which, respectively, will be the prime and option compounds in Australia, and the option and qualifying compounds when we return to Barcelona in May," explained Robson.

"The car and PU behaved well today, and we were able to make the most of the reliability to push the car a little harder.

"We aim to continue this progress tomorrow when George joins us again for his final day in the car before we head to Australia."

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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.