Considerable improvement for Williams at Valencia

Formula One hit the streets of Valencia for the first time today for the Friday practice sessions. AT&T Williams drivers, Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima, spent the three hour practice window learning the all new 5.4km street circuit and preparing their FW30s for the city’s inaugural European Grand Prix on Sunday. Both drivers ended P1 inside the top ten and concluded P2 with Nico setting the 12th fastest time and Kazuki the 14th.

Nico Rosberg: "The organisers have done a fantastic job; Valencia is a great track. It has a pretty smooth surface and it’s going to be a pleasure to race here. We went out on new tyres fairly early on, and the track ramped up a lot towards the end of the session so it’s difficult to really tell, but I think the track is suiting our car. We will have to wait and see what happens tomorrow and in the race. In terms of set-up, we made a considerable improvement today which is good."

Kazuki Nakajima: "The sessions went well for us. The long runs were good but we need to find a bit more pace when we’re out on new tyres. Conditions were changing all the time and the track became easier to drive as the sessions progressed. It’s not the easiest of circuits, so I’m pleased I did lots of preparation work on the simulator before I arrived. I’m feeling positive ahead of tomorrow’s qualifying."

Patrick Head, Director of Engineering: "We lost a set of tyres with Nico following his spin and we’re obviously lucky to get away without any car damage. Otherwise, we’ve run through our programme and have collected good information on tyres while doing long runs so we’re happy with the work we’ve done today."