Williams Racing had a disappointing Spanish Grand Prix last weekend, with both drivers struggling for pace and finishing well outside of the points places at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona.
This weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix presents the famous side with a new challenge, of dealing with the “bumps and kerbs” of the Circuit de Monaco. Whilst Monaco is normally a race with minimal overtaking, this year’s new cars may throw some surprises into the mix. A number of teams have suffered from reliability issues already this season, meaning that if Williams keep it clean, a strong result could be on the cards.
Williams Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson, discussed all the challenges that the historic circuit present the team.
“Monaco is always a challenging circuit that requires a specific approach to setup and car management. With the new 2022 cars, this is going to be an even greater challenge as it will be necessary to move the car away from the aerodynamic optimum in order to be able to deal with the bumps and kerbs of the Monte Carlo streets.
“Apart from some additional brake cooling and steering options, we have no test items or upgrades for this event and so we will be free to spend the practice sessions exploring the car setup and helping the drivers to get maximum confidence in the car.
“The tyres are the softest of the Pirelli range, including the C5 compound, which we last used in Melbourne. This very soft compound worked well at Albert Park and so it may require a different approach to get it into the best window in Monaco.
“Although normally warm and dry, there is always a risk that the cloud cover on the mountains can quickly move over the circuit, completely changing the character of the track. We will need to be mindful of this and look to capitalise on it if it happens.”