Williams drivers were forced to share parts today in free practice at Monaco as the team wait for a second rear wing to arrive at the circuit.
The team finished Thursday in Monte Carlo thirteenth and fourteenth fastest, but technical director Sam Michael is aiming for a top ten grid slot with both cars on Saturday. “We spent today evaluating new aero components,” said Michael. “We currently have only one new rear wing assembly so Rubens ran it in the morning and Nico in the afternoon. The second will arrive in time for third practice and will stay on the cars for qualifying and the race.
“We covered a lot of set-up work with Rubens and Nico which has given us plenty of data to study before Saturday. Our target for qualifying is to get both cars into the top ten.”
After trying the new rear wing on his car this morning, Barrichello thinks that the team are moving forward: “I had the new rear wing assembly this morning, Nico this afternoon. It looks promising and I hope to be a touch more competitive than some previous weekends. I'm looking forward to Saturday.”
Hulkenberg was actually faster than his more experienced teammate at the end of the day, but it was when the upgrades were on his FW32. Today was also the first time the rookie German had driven around Monte Carlo in a Formula 1 car. “This morning was initially about getting some mileage under my belt,” said Hulkenberg. “The car feels ok; you can squeeze a lot out of it on one lap with the soft tyre. It also feels like we've made a gain with the new aero parts, the rear wing definitely provides more grip.”
