F1 News
Russell tells the truth at Williams: "We are still the slowest car"
George Russell has spent many hours inside the new Williams car. Even though the teams had two fewer days out on the track in Barcelona this year, the British team recorded more laps. Russell beat his qualifying time on the same venue at last year's Spanish Grand Prix.
During the week, Williams were never actually at the bottom of the timesheets, but it's always hard to tell everyone's true pace in pre-season. The car broke down a few times, reported to be a Mercedes engine issue. The team picked up just one championship point in 21 races last season, something which must be improved upon.
"No doubt we're in a better position. I think realistically, we are still the slowest car. We're not going to get carried away with ourselves, but we've definitely reduced the gap. That's all we could have hoped for over the winter. We'll go into Melbourne and see, but don't expect to see us in Q2 or Q3," Russell told Autosport.
"We've definitely improved but expectations are all under control. Last year when we outperformed our car we were still qualifying 19th and finishing 19th, so I hope this year when people slip up and we perform well, that's when we can take the opportunities."
While at lot can't be taken from the timesheets, Williams demonstrated good reliability from their side of things. We also saw some smiles from Claire Williams and the rest of their team. Body language was positive.