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Williams aiming to test new short nose in Bahrain

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Williams is aiming to test a new short nose design at this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

The team has used a short nose since the start of last season having managed to pass the FIA crash tests with its concept, something which proved difficult for some teams. Williams is now aiming to introduce another version of the short nose which may be ready in Bahrain, but Valtteri Bottas confirmed only Felipe Massa would run the update if it reaches the circuit in time.

"We have some new bits, like new floors on both cars, small things in the brake ducts and also, maybe, something else coming for later this weekend," Bottas said.

"We’re not sure if we’ll have all the new bits for all the cars, like the new nosecone, but if we manage to get it here there will be just one unit available and because Felipe is ahead of me in the championship he’ll get it. But we cannot guarantee it will get here on time."

And Bottas says it could prove to be in important upgrade as Williams expects a close battle with the likes of Red Bull and Force India to continue.

"Every step we can make will be important because the pack is very closely matched and every small step will help. Hopefully we can be more competitive than we were in Melbourne."

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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.