Williams hope for better luck at Silverstone 05 Jul 2005
After suffering from one of the least successful weekends in their illustrious history at Magny-Cours, the Williams team are in a determinedly upbeat mood looking forward to the British Grand Prix.
Both Mark Webber and Nick Heidfeld suffered from a serious lack of pace throughout the French Grand Prix weekend and during the race itself things went from bad to worse. Heidfeld made no fewer than six visits to the pits as he attempted to correct a handling imbalance in his car, while Webber suffered from intense discomfort and burns after excessive heat built up in his car's cockpit after a technical malfunction.
Williams will be hoping for good news at Silverstone, following the confirmation that current engine partner BMW has taken control of the Sauber team, forcing the Grove-based outfit into the search for a new competitive powerplant. A strong result in England would certainly help persuade sponsors that the future is still bright.
Technical Director Sam Michael confirms that the Williams FW27 will benefit from further upgrades at Silverstone: "Silverstone is a high speed circuit, with fast changes of direction and three straights that reward power. It also has a slow speed complex to finish off the lap. Aero efficiency is important at Silverstone, with the cars’ set-up geared towards helping high speed stability while not losing too much grip in the complex… The chassis development has been pushed really hard this year to improve the FW27. 2005 has been the hardest and fastest development year we have ever had and the improved chassis proves the hard work is yielding results."
Webber is also optimistic - and determined to race despite the burns he suffered in France: "The circuit itself is massively demanding. It’s a high speed circuit, not too dissimilar to Barcelona. As we know, weather can play a huge role at Silverstone, but it would be good to have decent conditions. I really hope we’ll be more competitive next weekend and have a good race for one of the team’s home GPs."
