After the ‘leaked’ video and photos of the FW32 shake down over the weekend, the Williams team officially unveiled their 2010 challenger in Valencia as testing kicked off.
As the session started the team had clear objectives, Initial systems, performance and reliability checks with the FW32.
Sam Michael, Technical Director was happy with the outcome of the test: “It was a productive first day testing, with the car completing 75 laps in total.”
Along with new drivers the Williams team goes in to this season with a brand new engine supplier.
“Considering everything is new, in particular the Cosworth engine installation, it was good to get through the day without any major problems. We did have a minor software issue with the throttle control towards the end of the session, but that is easily sorted out for tomorrow. We are well underway with set-up work now and tuning the FW32 around the new Bridgestone tyres.
Rubens Barrichello was happy to get back on track and admitted he didn’t know what to expect going in to the day, “I enjoyed today, it was like a first day at school! You can't predict anything from the times today; and probably won't be able to for the remainder of the tests because of the fuel loads people will run with such big tanks. It probably won't be until Bahrain qualifying that we will see where everyone is.” said the Brazilian.
“We are working on improving the balance of the car, but it's running reliably, despite the small issue with the throttle. As everything is new, it was a good day.” he added.