Delayed Williams finally arrives in Barcelona for testing

It’s the moment Williams have been waiting for. Their 2019 challenger – the FW42 – travelled overnight to Spain, arriving at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at 4am local time, having missed the start of pre-season testing.

Delays in the team's production schedule have meant Williams not only cancelled their shakedown but were also left without a car for the opening two days of testing – 25 percent of the available running permitted ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

ANALYSIS - Williams: Why is their car late to F1 testing?

But there was better news late on Tuesday, as the car began the journey to Barcelona, arriving in the early hours of the morning. The test team could finally get on with preparing the car to hit the track.

However, Williams admitted “there is still a fair amount of work to do” and therefore it is “unlikely” to take to the circuit until this afternoon “but everyone is doing as much as they can”.

Race drivers Robert Kubica and George Russell, who form an all-new line-up for Williams this year, were supposed to share testing duties with reserve Nicholas Latifi, but it remains unclear how they will adjust their schedule given the delays.