Some way to go for Williams tomorrow
As rain seems inevitable at Spa-Francorchamps, the teams weren't too surprised to see the rain pooring down during the first free practice. Due to the loss of time during this shower, the Williams F1 Team still has a lot of work to do during tomorrow's third and final free practice session.
Objectives P1
• Wet running to assess set-up requirements for these conditions
Objectives P2
• Performance evaluation of tyres – high fuel for race and low fuel for qualifying
• Evaluation of aero and mechanical set-up
Conclusions – Sam Michael, Technical Director:
“The weather was mixed this morning, so it was a little difficult to see where everybody was. What the rain in the morning did mean was the afternoon was compressed in terms of getting all of our work done. The running we have done shows we are not in our normal competitive position. However, we have tested lots of things today and we have got some direction, so we will look into this tonight and do all we can to take a big step tomorrow.”
Nico Rosberg:
Runs P1: 1 (new option) install, 2 (new prime) baseline, 6 (new wet) wet running, 4 (scrubbed wet) aero balance, start on grid
Runs P2: 3 (scrubbed prime) baseline, 5 (scrubbed prime) continue run after red flag, 9 (new prime) new tyres, 5 (new option) new tyres, 4 (scrubbed prime) mechanical set-up, 3 (new option) new tyres
“It was not a good day today. The car was a long way from the pace and with the weather this morning, we only had one session to try and make a difference, which was not enough given how far behind we were. We made some big changes and we got some answers back, but we need to have a think tonight and try to find a solution.”
Kazuki Nakajima:
Runs P1: 1 (new prime) install, 2 (scrubbed prime) baseline, 7 (new wet) wet running, 5 (scrubbed wet) aero balance, start on grid
Runs P2: 3 (scrubbed prime) baseline, 6 (scrubbed prime) continue run after red flag, 9 (new option) tyre test/race balance, 11 (new prime) tyre test/race balance, 4 (new option) new tyres
“It was a difficult day for us. The balance of the car was not too bad but we just need to find some more performance from the car from the other aspects we can change.”
