Williams confident on 2012 improvement

After a disastrous 2011 season which saw Williams suffer one of their worst seasons in their long career in Formula 1, Williams are confident on improvements throughout the 2012 season. With the Australian Grand Prix only days away, both the Williams drivers’ and team are confident after pre-season testing.

Throughout pre-season testing, Williams completed the most amount of mileage of all the teams with 5,330kms. The last time Williams won around the Albert Park circuit was 1996, when Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve fought a race-long battle for the win.

“We have had a productive pre-season test programme, with the Williams-Renault FW34-RS27 completing 5,330kms, which is the most mileage of any of the new 2012 cars.” Explained Mark Gillan, the teams Chief Operations Engineer, “During the three tests Pastor, Bruno and Valtteri [Bottas] drove exceptionally well and the two new drivers have integrated seamlessly into the team ahead of the new season, with weekly visits to the factory and simulator. The whole team has worked very hard over the winter to eradicate areas where we were weaker in 2011, in addition to integrating the new Renault Sport F1 engine, and are now looking forward to starting the season.”

Both Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna have raced on this track once in their relatively short careers’, with Senna winning several Formula 3 races back in 2006 supporting the Australian Grand Prix.

“Albert Park is a nice track. I really love that kind of street circuit, so I hope we will have a good weekend.” Said Pastor Maldonado, who retired during last years race, “I know the track this year and I’m more confident with the team and the car, so that will also help. The whole team have been pushing so hard all winter to improve, and I’ve also been pushing myself. It’s exciting to get back racing and to see what speed everyone has when the weekend gets underway.”

“I am really looking forward to going to Australia.” Said Bruno Senna, who replaces Rubens Barrichello for 2012, “About a month after the last race of the season you are itching to get back racing, so four months later I really can’t wait to get started. Getting into the car on Friday will be very exciting, and I hope we can be competitive from the very beginning. I know the Albert Park circuit, having driven there for HRT in 2010. I’ve also had success, winning three of the four Formula Three races supporting the Australian Grand Prix in 2006, so I have good memories of the place.”

Last year both Maldonado and Barrichello failed to finish the season-opener, both due to transmission failure. Williams will be hoping these kind of technical issues don’t plague the team this year, and that their drivers’ can have a trouble free Australian Grand Prix.