Five points noted by Williams during testing

The main result of the pre-season testing for Williams is that Alex Albon and Logan Sargent got to know the new FW46 car more or less normally, and together with them the team identified and eliminated a number of ‘child problems’.

But Williams’ press office drew attention to five more points that also deserve mention.

Tests took longer

Most teams opted to spend filming days before heading to Bahrain, but Williams only drove the new car for the first time on the day before testing began at the Sakhir circuit.

Last Tuesday, Alex and Logan drove the permitted 200 km before the official tests even started. In concrete terms, this means that the team was able to collect information about the behavior of the new car for four days in a row.

FW46 livery in spotlights

The championship calendar includes more and more races that take place in the evening and at night under artificial lighting. The tests in Bahrain allowed Williams engineers to test the performance of the new car in different conditions, but everyone was also interested to see what the FW46 looks like in daylight and under spotlights.

The team’s partners and sponsors were enthusiastic about the updated version of the car’s design, which added elegant thin red and white stripes. By all accounts, the FW46 looks great, both in sunlight and under the stars.

Back to basic

Each new season is another year of intensive knowledge building about the car, but in 2024 Williams faces an even more difficult task than a year ago. According to Alex Albon, the on-track performance difference between the FW45 and FW46 is so great that he feels like he has moved to a different team.

“We assure everyone that Alex will continue to compete in a Williams Racing uniform this year!” – writes the team’s press service.

Photographer James Vowles

James Vowles, the team leader, decided to try himself in a new business and picked up a camera. On Thursday evening he went to the track and tried himself as a photographer, in the company of Alex Albon, enthusiastically taking pictures of passing cars.

However, he couldn’t hold on for long and returned all the equipment to the professional photographer. He tried to share some secrets of his skills, but James cheerfully interrupted him, “That’s not necessary. Even the very first photo I took was perfect!”

Solo performances

On each of the three days of testing, the Williams team built a different track work programme. While Logan and Alex shared the day on Wednesday, only the American driver drove the FW46 on Thursday and only Albon on Friday.

Admittedly, Alex was a bit unlucky as Friday’s races were interrupted by red flags due to repair work on the track, but he still managed to complete double the Grand Prix distance and complete 121 laps.

A few days pass very quickly and next Thursday the Williams drivers will take their new cars to the track for the first practice session, and preparations for the Bahrain Grand Prix will enter the final phase.