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Robert Kubica says that Williams only covered 20% of their target of laps during the Barcelona tests. The Williams driver only managed 15 laps on a long run when he expected to have covered at least 75.
Kubica also was at the back of the field with his best lap time of 1:18.993 which was also slower than his rookie teammate. His time in the car was brought to a stop earlier than expected due to excessive wear on some of the critical parts of the bodywork which rendered the data being collected as useless.
After the frustrations of Williams' troubled testing, Kubica said: "Going to the first race after eight years without doing a proper job of testing will be difficult. That is the reality of the situation and I can't do anything else but prepare as much as I can.
"Probably, I did 20 per cent of what I should know and do during this test. I have not gone longer than 15 laps on a long run. So there are a lot of question marks. But that is the reality. We did the maximum of what we had."
Kubica also spent some time talking about the positives from the test, he described the FW42 as not feeling too bad when it was in its proper configuration which in turn built his confidence in the car.
He added that the car did not feel so good on its final day running and said: "My confidence disappeared because the car was not in the right shape."
When asked if the opening races would be akin to testing Kubica replied: "Unfortunately, I think yes.
"We face a big delay. And some of today's issues are a consequence of being in a rush. So if you struggle to have a car for the week before you will struggle to have spare parts.
"Today we were required to have some bits to replace them and we could not replace them. In the end, we did the maximum with what we had. But this maximum is not enough because the car was far from optimal."
Azerbaijan Grand Prix
C. Sainz jr
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Replies (8)
Login to replyKean
Posts: 692
They had 5 days... if they only managed 20%, that means they neede 25 days at that rate... really sad to see Williams become a Marussia/Caterham team. They need a restructure, much like the one at McLaren (fingers crossed it’s a good example).
Pbr81
Posts: 2
There were other problems as well. On Wednesday last week they made some laps using not fully equipped car (some parts were hand-made on the track or there weren't installed at all -> look at pics and diffuser as an example) . So the car wasn't complete. There were some laps made on Thursday and Friday, but as you can imagine, they were more like "installation laps" and gathering data rather than normal driving.
Williams is struggling a lot with late development. Kubica is a guy who is very demanding from the team and from himself. That's why he is so frustrated. On the last day they said to him that he cannot go fast with that car because some parts are already "used" and it doesn't make any sense to do so! Can you believe it? Or -> they cannot ride on curbs because it can lead to a car damage. That was ridiculous! How a driver can prepare to a race (since it was the first time with that car) without making a fast lap?
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Revolution! Revolution I say!
Ram Samartha
Posts: 1,172
Sad.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Pathetic. I think the route ahead for Williams is to become a Haas2.0
F1todayfan101
Posts: 120
They rejected a mercedes rear end for this year. A decision i bet they are regretting now.....
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It might be, and honestly, they should take that opportunity. Just do it. RP can build competitive cars with a low budget. Williams cannot. Pride is nice, but excess pride can be harmful, and we are seeing that with Williams now. Swallow that pride, use a glass of water if you must, and take the help you are offered Williams, even if it's just for a couple of seasons.
kngrthr
Posts: 203
they need to pay their bills.
i suspect suppliers are withholding stuff and causing the delays