Williams Head Home Early To Solve Wing Issues

Williams have abandoned their test programme at Barcelona this weekend and are heading back to Grove a day early following the problems that have arisen with their front wing. On the first day of the test Kazuki Nakajima suffered a mounting failure on the wing and ploughed off the circuit at high speed. The team immediately suspended Nico Rosberg from running until they had figured out exactly what the problem was. This morning the team ran both cars having repaired Nakajima’s chassis by flying parts out to Spain on Frank Williams’s private jet. However, the squad aren’t entirely convinced the issue has been resolved are instead returning to the factory to prepare for the Jerez test next week.

Williams have enjoyed a good pre-season so far with their new FW30 and the car looks to be a good step forward for the private team. Nico Rosberg is pleased with the way the chassis has been developed and Kazuki Nakajima looks like a real talent who just needs experience. However, the past two days have been largely unproductive for the team and not getting the laps in will put the team back a little.

We had some issues with the wing, which we could not resolve during this test at short notice. We have decided to return to the factory, so we can put in place a solid solution for the Jerez test in a week’s time. Sam Michael.

However, Williams are confident that the issue will be resolved by next week in time for Jerez where they can resume their development programme prior to the season start in Australia in March.

I think we need to re-look at the issues back in the UK and prepare for Jerez. It was an overnight preparation [to prepare the wing], so we need more time and data. Barcelona is a very high speed, bumpy track and this wing issue became apparent on this type of circuit. We will aim to be okay for Jerez. Kazuki Nakajima.