F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Russell: Williams progress real but 'car still slowest'

Williams displayed a good performance level in pre-season testing, but George Russell still believes the British outfit is at the bottom of the field.

Contrary to last year, Williams executed a timely roll out of its 2020 contender in Barcelona and prepared well at the Circuit de Catalunya save for the issues it encountered with its Mercedes power unit.

Both Russell and rookie teammate Nicholas Latifi performed well behind the wheel of their new FW43.

Yet the former put a lid on his enthusiasm, insisting Williams still had the slowest car although progress is undeniable.

"No doubt we're in a better position," Russell said. "I think realistically, we are still the slowest car.

"We're not going to get carried away with ourselves, but we've definitely reduced the gap.

"That's all we could have hoped for over over the winter. We'll go into Melbourne and see, but don't expect to see us in Q2 or Q3. We've definitely improved, but expectations are all under control.

"Last year when we outperformed our car we were still qualifying 19th and finishing 19th. So I hope this year when people slip up and we perform well, that's when we can take the opportunities.

"I know where we’ve gained, but quantifying it versus the other teams is difficult."

Dave Robson, Williams' head of vehicle performance was happy overall with the team's winter preparations.

"Overall, we have had a good winter testing period and have made the most of the six days available in this newly compressed format," Robson said.

"We have completed in excess of 100 laps on all but one of the days, which has allowed us to complete almost everything that we intended."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

53 mins ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

2 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

3 hours ago

Hamilton delighted with ‘consistently strong day’ in Vegas

Lewis Hamilton was particularly happy with his opening day of running at the Las Vegas…

5 hours ago

Verstappen stuck with 'draggy' rear wing for Vegas

Red Bull fears that its prospects for this weekend's Las Vegas Grand Prix - which…

5 hours ago

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply…

6 hours ago