Williams will be bringing new wings to Canada this weekend, hoping to get their season back on track around the street circuit at Montreal.
The team have failed to score any points in the last two races, but are looking forward to returning to North America, and to a track which was not on the calendar last season.
“Everyone in the team is really looking forward to going back to Montreal,” says Williams’ technical director Sam Michael. “Not only is it a great city which fully gets behind Formula One when we come to town, but the circuit always produces an exciting Grand Prix.
“Montreal is one of the few street circuits we race on, but it is a completely different proposition to somewhere like Monaco because the track is dominated by long, high speed straights. As such, aero efficiency is always at a premium and we will be taking new wings to give us optimum performance.
“The layout comprises 15 corners, a mix of low and medium speed, so we also have to find a good balance and grip level, while good traction out of the corners is also important. The stop-start nature of the track is heavy on the brakes so we will have new brake ducts for this race as well.
“Our target for Canada will be top ten grid slots in qualifying and points finishes for both cars.”
Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced driver in the history of the sport, is also looking forward to returning to Canada.
“Everyone loves the fact that we are going back to Canada, including me!” exclaims the Brazilian.
“I’ve raced there 16 times so I have a lot of experience, which should be an advantage because it's not the easiest of circuits to get right,” adds Barrichello. “It's a road track, there's not a lot of grip and it's very narrow, so completely different to Istanbul and requires a very different aero package.
“We have some new parts coming for this race and I know the team is pushing really hard to improve our performance. Because I've had some podium finishes there and because I love the circuit, I’m going full of optimism and hope to have a good result.”
In stark contrast, Barrichello’s teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, has never visited the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before, but has heard the hype. “This will be my first trip to Canada but I’m probably more excited about this weekend than any of the others because everyone raves about the place!” says the German rookie.
“There won’t be too much time for looking around though as we have a lot of work to do to improve our performance
and make sure we have a better race than we did in Turkey.
“I’ve worked hard in the past few weeks to do my bit and make sure I’m well prepared. I’ve spent time at the factory going through track data with my engineers and using the simulator to familiarise myself with the track. As well as doing my usual training schedule, that’s as much as I can do until I get out on track on Friday.
“Williams have a good record at Montreal, and the team has worked really hard to bring more updates to the car to cope with Canada’s particular demands, so I’m hoping the weekend will be a positive one.”
