New rear wing proves to help the Williams duo
The Williams team arrive in Monaco with a rear wing aero updates for their FW32, although the drivers had to share it as the only one was available for the time being. Along with that the usual work of setting up the car took the usual priority as Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg are expecting to get into Q3 in qualifying, although their current standing are only good for Q2.
Sam Michael, Technical Director:
"We spent today evaluating new aero components, We currently have only one new rear wing assembly so Rubens ran it in the morning and Nico in the afternoon. The second will arrive in time for third practice and will stay on the cars for qualifying and the race. We covered a lot of set-up work with Rubens and Nico which has given us plenty of data to study before Saturday. Our target for qualifying is to get both cars into the top ten."
Rubens Barrichello Runs P1: Run 1: New Prime (1 lap, install), Run 2: Used Prime (8 laps, set-up test), Run 3: Used Prime (8 laps, aero set-up), Run 4: Used Prime (11 laps, mechanical set-up) Runs P2: Run 1: New Prime (6 laps, tyre evaluations), Run 2: Used Prime (6 laps, set-up test), Run 3: New Option (8 laps, tyre evaluations), Run 4: Used Option (5 laps, aero set-up), Run 5: Used Option (4 laps, aero setup), Run 6: Used Option (9 laps, race set-up)
"The team brought some new parts for the car to Monaco. I had the new rear wing assembly this morning, Nico this afternoon. It looks promising and I hope to be a touch more competitive than some previous weekends. I’m looking forward to Saturday."
Nico Hulkenberg Runs P1: Run 1: New Prime (1 lap, install), Run 2: Used Prime (10 laps, baseline set-up), Run 3: Used Prime (10 laps, aero set-up), Run 4: Used Prime (18 laps, mechanical set-up) Runs P2: Run 1: New Prime (8 laps, tyre evaluations), Run 2: Used Prime (7 laps, set-up test), Run 3: New Option (6 laps, tyre evaluations), Run 4: Used Option (27 laps, race set-up)
"Today was my first time in a Formula One car around Monaco so this morning was initially about getting some mileage under my belt. The car feels ok; you can squeeze a lot out of it on one lap with the soft tyre. It also feels like we’ve made a gain with the new aero parts, the rear wing definitely provides more grip."
