Improvements should help Williams at Melbourne
After a rather disappointing first race of the 2010 Formula One season, the Williams F1 Team travels to Melbourne to score points. The improvements made to the FW32 should help the Grove-based outfit to have a stronger race this weekend.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: "Albert Park is a low grip street circuit, and you’re normally on the limit when it comes to tyre graining. As a result, careful management of car set-up throughout the weekend is a pre-requisite. We will have some improvements for the FW32 in Australia that we will roll out during Friday’s practice sessions. It's going to be a really interesting weekend in terms of seeing how the teams perform on such a different track in comparison to Sakhir. In terms of strategy, Bahrain gave a good indication as to what will be the most likely pit strategy for Melbourne."
Rubens Barrichello: "Melbourne is a great place for a Grand Prix. The racing is always competitive so it’s a good track from a fan perspective; it’s also a very social city so it’s nice to hang out there. I like Albert Park a lot. It doesn’t really feel like a street circuit, it’s very challenging and has some interesting corners to negotiate. We had some minor problems in Bahrain but we have resolved them now for Australia. I’m positive we will have a stronger race this weekend."
Nico Hülkenberg: "As a circuit, I don't know Albert Park at all as I haven’t raced there yet. I spent a few days in the factory last week going through practice runs on the simulator and running through data with my engineers which was really helpful but nothing beats having time on the track itself. Bahrain wasn't the best race for me, but there were some positives to be taken from it because it highlighted where we need to do some more work. I’m hoping that we will have a more successful weekend in Australia as a result of what I learnt in Bahrain, and what the team have worked on since we came home. I'm flying out to Sydney on Saturday morning for a driver day with RBS on Tuesday. I then have an appearance for Randstad on Wednesday in Melbourne before heading to the circuit."