Report: Williams Racing conclude Barcelona track session

The team have wrapped up what has been an insightful three days of pre-season track session running around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

In a break from the first two days, our pairing of Nicholas Latifi and Alex Albon split duties across both sessions on Friday.

During the lunch break, several tankers lapped the 4.655km track emptying hundreds of gallons of water as they did so.

With the circuit feeling more like Silverstone than Barcelona, Nicky picked up some important wet weather data and after drying off, we caught up with the Canadian who reflected on a productive three days: “Today's running was slightly more disrupted than the first two days with a number of red flags in the morning.

“However, none were caused by us and we still gained some good learning, especially as we got to experience the intermediate tyres in the afternoon which was valuable.

“Overall, I think it has been a productive pre-season session in Barcelona. We have had a few minor issues here and there but that is par of the course with a new car as it’s a new learning for both the drivers and the team.

“It’s an exciting time and I’m looking forward to going to Bahrain now and building on everything we’ve learned from this week.”

Our No23 also had a solid amount of track time today, totalling 94 laps, and he too was very satisfied with his efforts overall: “We got some really good mileage in today and managed to maximise the limited testing time we have before the first race of the year.

“Overall, the team have had a very successful few days in Barcelona; the car has been reliable and so we’ve done well to build a very good foundation to work from.

“It’s still early days and we can’t read too much into lap times, but I think we should be very pleased with how these sessions have gone and I’m looking forward to getting back out in the car in Bahrain.”

It has been a busy three days for all of the team, and our Head of Vehicle Performance Dave Robson believes the work carried out in Barcelona will stand us in good stead for the Official Pre-Season Test in Bahrain:

“We had a strong finish to this first round of 2022 track running. Although we were held-up this morning following some minor damage to a brake duct and some red flags, we managed a smooth afternoon, including our first experience of the 2022 Intermediate tyres, which we were able to share between Nicholas and Alex. As the track dried, we were able to complete the final round of data gathering before completing a sequence of long runs with Alex.

“With the 2021 cars being largely carried over from 2020, it has been enjoyable to once again get to grips with a whole new car.

“Whilst it has been hard work, the team have worked well together and as a result we have collected a lot of data. This will be used to guide both the next round of car development and the run plans for the crucial test in Bahrain.”

With Nicky and Alex combining to manage 107 laps and keep it clean on a day littered with red flags, it means the team will return to Grove with a total of 347 laps from the three days under their belts.

Next our attention turns to Bahrain for three more days of pre-season running ahead of the season opener.