Williams did not waste any time putting their 2022 Formula 1 car through its paces, as they had a shakedown for the FW44 shortly after its launch.
While the car Williams displayed in the launch event was just a show car, to display the team’s 2022 livery, the world did not have to wait much to see the real car, as the team had a shakedown for the FW44 at a damp Silverstone shortly after the race.
The team revealed that: “Whilst thousands of you were busy tuning into the official Williams Racing livery reveal, our team were hard at work in the garages of the Northamptonshire circuit getting the FW44 ready to hit the asphalt.”
Alex Albon had his firs taste of Williams F1 machinery at the shakedown, and said: “It’s really exciting to get behind the wheel of the FW44 today; it’s always a big moment when you get in the car for the first time.
“The upcoming Barcelona track session will be about making sure we’re efficient with our time to best ensure we have a competitive package heading into the season.
“We don’t have many days before our first race and so we quickly need to understand which areas of the car are strong and where we need to make improvements.
“I’m sure it will be a little bit of a learning curve as we all try to learn how to get the most out of the new regulations, but the objectives and the way that we focus on this car is very much the same as in previous years.
“Ultimately, we’re all still trying to get a racing car around a track as quickly as possible,” Albon concluded.
His teammate, Nicholas Latifi, also took part in the shakedown, and stress the importance of the pre-season test in Barcelona.
“I’m super excited for testing in Barcelona, to get back behind the wheel, push and see what the car can do,” the Canadian said.
“Pre-season always feels like quite a long time, but it’s been really busy and there’s been a nice build-up at the factory with lots of hard work from everyone.
“The new regulations should allow for much better racing so I’m excited for the challenge and we will aim to gather some good data from testing, to take us into the first few races,” Latifi concluded.
Up close and personal with our 2022 challenger 😍🔎 pic.twitter.com/m4jERopU9q
— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 15, 2022