Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi are ready to get going in Bahrain

With the second round of pre-season testing coming up in just a couple of days, all the drivers are definitely raring to go and see what their cars for this year will be like in Bahrain. Two who are probably more excited than most are Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi of Williams Racing. The FW44’s somewhat radical design seemed to work well in Barcelona and, with Williams being a team with aspirations to leap back up the grid, there’s a lot of positivity within the camp.

“I’m super excited to get to Bahrain for testing,” said Latifi. “After sampling the FW44 in Barcelona last week, I’m curious to see it on a track that is going to have more representative conditions. It’ll be a good opportunity to see what we can do and build upon the progress and learning we currently have. The additional running will also be much more relevant for the team as we’re racing there a week later, so I’m really looking forward to it.”

“After a strong few days in Barcelona, the focus now turns to the pre-season test in Bahrain,” said Albon. “It’s a very different track with incredibly different temperatures, so it will be interesting to see how the FW44 performs, and we’ll have a lot to learn ahead of the first race. Our main goals will be to fine tune the set-up of the car and work on maximising performance; I’m looking forward to it!“

Williams will start its running in Bahrain on 10 March. Alex Albon will run all day on the first day and Nicholas Latifi will run all day on the second day. The third day of testing will be split between both drivers; Latifi will be driving during the morning and Albon will be driving during the afternoon.