ROKiT Williams Racing is set to miss the second day of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Barcelona, and does not expect to start running the FW42 until Wednesday “at the earliest.”
Williams was set to run its new car in a shakedown prior to the first of eight days of allotted pre-season testing over the weekend, but shelved that plan and announced that it would miss the opening day of testing, after failing to complete the build of the new car in time.
The new car is still yet to be officially launched, as the team unveiled its 2019 livery on an ’18-spec car featuring a link-up with mobile phone company ROKiT, after the team’s Martini contract ended at the end of the ’18 season.
“It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest,” said deputy team principal, Claire Williams.
“This is obviously extremely disappointing, but it is, unfortunately, the situation we are in.
“We will be getting the FW42 on track as soon as we are able.”
The news comes as Williams looks to recover from the worst season in its history in 2018, where the nine-time constructors’ champions finished last in the standings for the first time.
It goes into the 2019 season with an all-new driver line-up after both Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin departed the team, to be replaced by the returning Robert Kubica and reigning FIA Formula 2 champion, George Russell.
It is currently unclear as to how the team will divide driving duties for the remainder of the test, to which it is limited to just two days running.
Both Kubica and Russell were due to dovetail running in the car with reserve driver Nicholas Latifi over the course of the four-day test.
