Williams wraps up final week of testing of 2006

Just like all the other teams, the Williams F1 Team wrapped up their final week of testing in 2006. Over the last three days, all the four Williams F1 driver, Nico Rosberg, Alex Wurz, Narain Karthikeyan and Kazuki Nakajima came in action to complete the 2006 testing programme.

Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1:

“Today marked the end of the 2006 testing programme for Williams. The test team will now have a good break over Christmas before starting again on 16th January 2007 in Jerez. We started testing back in September with the FW28B car, which is a modified FW28A with the Toyota engine and our 2007 seamless gearbox. This car has completed over 6,500kms and no fewer than three complete on-track race simulations as part of our plan to significantly improve reliability in 2007.

In addition to reliability, we have been working hard on understanding the changes in the tyres that Bridgestone are now supplying, and there are no untoward surprises. They are quite consistent and easier to manage, which is helpful when trying to evaluate different set-up changes from a stable baseline.

We have had all four of our drivers working during this period with Nico, Alex, Narain and now Kazuki driving. Kazuki performed exceptionally well in his first Formula One test, showing he was well prepared for it. This week in Jerez he completed more than 840kms in two days, setting consistent lap times and experiencing no physical problems in the car. I'm really impressed to see that in someone driving an F1 car for the first time, and on that basis believe he has a bright future."