British Grand Prix ‘a useful reference’ for Williams Updated FW45 – Dave Robson

The British Grand Prix will give Williams Racing a good reference point to see how competitive they have become with their recently upgraded FW45, according to Head of Vehicle Performance, Dave Robson.

Williams have only secured two top ten finishes so far during the 2023 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, with Alexander Albon taking tenth place in the Bahrain Grand Prix in March and seventh in the Canadian Grand Prix last month.  Logan Sargeant has yet to score his first points since joining the team ahead of the current season.

Robson says both drivers will race with the same package this weekend at Silverstone as they did last weekend in Austria, but it will be a big test for Williams to see just how far they have come since bringing significant updates to the car earlier in the year.

“Silverstone is always a good test of the car and the drivers, and following races in Canada and Austria, the British Grand Prix weekend is a very useful reference for the updated FW45,” said Robson.

“Both drivers continue with the same basic package as they raced last weekend at the Red Bull Ring, but they will each have a new aerodynamic item to look at in FP1 as part of our ongoing R&D programme.”

Robson believes all three available slick tyre options will play a significant part in the Silverstone weekend, and he believes the new construction being introduced by Pirelli will not change the way the tyres work on track.

“This weekend sees the full introduction of the new Pirelli tyre construction, which all teams tested in Barcelona,” he said.  “This is expected to work well with the hard compounds that Pirelli have supplied for this event.

“All three compounds should offer useful trades of performance and degradation and will offer useful strategic flexibility.”