Williams Martini Racing Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe is confident the team can compete at the Brazilian Grand Prix due to the short circuit and the close grid.
Sergey Sirotkin finish seventeenth and sixteenth in the two sessions today, while team-mate Lance Stroll recorded the fourteenth and eighteenth fastest times.
“It’s great to be back at Interlagos.” said Lowe. “The cars come around very quickly due to this being a short circuit, meaning life on the pitwall and in the garage is quite intense.”
Due to the short nature of the circuit it can prove difficult to get a clean lap without getting caught out by traffic, unfortunately for the Grove-based team they struggled with this today.
“We had a lot of problems with traffic today and both drivers struggled to get a fully clear lap when on their one lap pace runs. Nevertheless, we managed to complete our programme without any issues.”
While the traffic issues meant the team couldn’t push fully, Williams did manage to cover all bases in preparation for the weekend ahead.
“We’ve tested all three compounds thoroughly, both at low and high fuel. There’s certainly opportunity to compete here. A very close grid means half a tenth can make a significant difference.
“We will be working very hard tomorrow to see if we can translate that into some good grid positions and a strong race.”
