Williams F1 testing wrap
The WilliamsF1 team completed their three day test at the Circuit de Catalunya. The team was encouraged by what was described as a positive test with the WilliamsF1 team and new partners Cosworth and Bridgestone working together for the first time. The next test is at Jerez.
Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1 "This week was a fantastic first test for the new Williams, Cosworth and Bridgestone partnership and it is a great credit to everybody in Grove and Northampton to have been able to conduct such a thorough first test together. Although we experienced the normal teething problems, the mileage we’ve achieved and the progress we’ve made on set-up and understanding the tyres and how the car responds to the V8 has been really good. Mark worked on set-up changes today and did some tyre testing for Bridgestone, while Nico spent this morning on set-ups but we lost some time on his car repairing a gearbox problem. Both Mark and Nico will be driving in Jerez next week."
Mark Webber "We’ve had a raft of new elements at this test, including the engine, tyres, hydraulics and electronics, to name just a few. There’ll all new factors, and potential show stoppers at this early stage, but we’ve enjoyed reasonable reliability this week. Of course, we haven’t even scratched the surface with Bridgestone yet in terms of the philosophy of their tyres in comparison with Michelin, and we’re still getting used to the new V8 and working on its different characteristics. It’s been a pretty positive test though and an encouraging start for us."
Nico Rosberg "It’s been great to finally get back in the car again this week after quite a long preparation period. The test went really well overall, we didn’t experience too many problems, although those that we did all seemed to happen on my car! The Cosworth engine was very impressive and very powerful. We had no problems with it which is good considering this test was its first time out on track. The new gearbox we’ve been running was also good. The Bridgestone tyres seemed to work well, but it’s difficult to make comparisons. Obviously, we still need to do some work on tyre development, and spend some time adapting them to the car. For me, I feel very comfortable in the car. It feels great to drive and I’m really confident for the forthcoming tests."
Simon Corbyn, Head of F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth "The new Cosworth CA2006 V8 enjoyed a successful track debut with Williams in Barcelona. Ambitious performance and reliability targets have been set throughout the new V8 engine programme & we are on course to deliver against them. This is a testament to the huge effort put in by everyone at Cosworth and the excellent working relationship we have established with the Williams team."
Kaz Hamamura, Test Operations Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport "We are satisfied with our first test session with the WilliamsF1 Team. Our engineers have been working with the team to match the car to our tyres and we having being getting to know everyone. The initial feedback has been positive and we are already planning our next session together in Jerez where we can start to evaluate different specifications together."
