What Williams learned from first pre-season test

Friday saw the end of F1’s first pre-season test and before everyone’s attention now turns to the second and final four day pre-season test which begins tomorrow, Tuesday 26th of February, we assess what Williams fans can take from week one.

Delays in the build of their FW42s meant, as has been widely publicised, Williams arrived in Barcelona two days late with driver George Russell taking to the track at lunchtime on Wednesday and Robert Kubica the following morning.

With just one and a half days running compared to everyone else’s four, it’s little surprise that Williams lap count was way down on other teams with the Grove outfit completing around a third of the laps of their closest competitor (Williams’ 88 vs Force India’s 248).

It’s far from a coincidence that the team with the littlest running (Williams) finished bottom of the timesheets, second slowest team (Racing Point) completed the second fewest laps, and the third bottom of the timesheets (Haas) was the third most frugal in terms of mileage.

Such was Williams delay that the first test was completed without their FW42‘s full, latest-spec aero package, allowing for limited testing of the car’s full capability leaving the team to focus mainly on the car’s mechanical performance.

“I’ve only done about 11 proper laps in the car, but it gives us a good understanding of where we are at and the limitations and what we need to work on.” said Russell on completing his truncated test programme.

It’s too early to make any attempt to gauge the FW42‘s potential or any kind of pecking order based on what the stopwatch says, but to be a mere second behind Racing Point with all the compromises Williams has made has to be seen as a bit of an achievement.

Another silver lining (okay, maybe a bronze lining) is that, unlike a lot of the teams likely to be their competition in the midfield of the F1 pack in 2019, Williams did not suffer a mechanical breakdown in testing (although their programme was compromised and so any issues may only surface during longer runs).

The issues that other midfield teams are experiencing can also give Williams a degree of solace in that they’re not alone in having a less than perfect pre-season.

Haas are suffering reliability issues, McLaren have oft been seen stopped on circuit, and Renault have appeared to be behind play at times too and have expressed sympathy for Williams’ plight.

It can also give Williams the hint of an opportunity – if other teams slip up then positions could be there for the taking come the start of the season.

The competition amongst the teams vying for the ‘best of the rest’ title in 2019 looks to be as strong as its ever been, with Alfa, Toro Rosso and Renault each topping daily timing screens in Barcelona.

So it’s not only important that Williams match those teams’ improvement from last year, they also have to better it to close the gap as a result of the near tectonic pace of the 2018 Williams FW41.

When asked whether he felt Williams had done this, Robert Kubica offered caution:

“In some ways it is a step forward.”

Combined times from the first Formula 1 pre season test