Williams preview the British GP

Tuesday 1st July 2008

Williams preview the British GP

Williams preview the British GP

Williams know they need to improve at Silverstone following a disappointing race day at the French Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg: Williams won their first Grand Prix at Silverstone back in 1979 so it's always nice when this race comes around and we can compete in front of our home crowd. We have a lot of work to do though at the moment to improve our competitiveness. To help with that, we had a three-day test at Silverstone last week. We covered a lot of ground with the FW30, and that should help us out in the next few races. Silverstone is a great track to race on so I'm looking forward to it, and I think we'll do a lot better than we did in France.

Kazuki Nakajima: I'm really excited about this race, not only because it's the team's home Grand Prix, but also because I count it as my second home race as I've lived in England for quite a long time now. We spent last week testing at Silverstone and managed to cover off a lot of preparation for the race, which was important for us after Magny-Cours. For the first time this year, I'll hopefully bring some friends from Oxford with me to this race, which will be a novelty! That, and being able to drive home and not contend with an airport for once, will make a nice change!

Sam Michael, technical director, Williams F1: From the high speed first sector through to the low speed third sector, Silverstone has quite a varied track layout. Such variation often demands compromise which presents the drivers and engineers with a fairly significant challenge when it comes to getting the optimum set-up direction and therefore the quickest lap time at this track. Aerodynamic efficiency and a solid mechanical balance are key requirements for a competitive performance around Silverstone.

"With overtaking extremely difficult around the lap due to the speed the drivers carry into the corners, the emphasis on a strong qualifying is perhaps somewhat exaggerated at this race. A particularly hard track on tyres due to the heavy loads accrued at high speeds, Bridgestone will bring the hard and medium compound tyres to this race. The best strategy tends to be either a one or two stop. Last week's test at Silverstone afforded all of the teams a final opportunity to fine-tune their set-ups for the race.

User comments

    Loading

      Post a comment

      Glitz, Glamour, Monaco!

      Editor's Picks

      NTF1N: Dieter's Lottery

      NTF1N: Dieter's Lottery

      Red Bull Racing boss Dieter Mateschitz reckons that F1 this season is like watching a load of lottery balls come up...

      Team-Mate Wars: Spain

      Team-Mate Wars: Spain

      Fernando's continuing whitewash is beginning to cause concern at Maranello, while Lewis has banished his own tyre demons...

      PF1 Forum: Chatting Away

      PF1 Forum: Chatting Away

      Pastor Maldonado for the World title? Lewis Hamilton to Williams in 2012? And everyone reckons they can win. All these and more...

      Conclusions From Spain

      Conclusions From Spain

      It's a season where nothing lasts forever as highlighted by Pastor becoming the fifth different driver to claim a race win...

      Fantasy League: Game On

      Fantasy League: Game On

      Think you'd be a better team boss than PlanetF1? Join Our Friends & Enemy League on the PlanetF1 Fantasy League...