Williams: We're in F1 to win and we didn't win last year

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has made it no secret that he is wary of Williams being their number one Formula 1 world title challenger in 2015, but deputy team principal Claire Williams is not keen on predictions and points out that despite the renaissance her team did not win a race last year.

With regards to Wolff's fears, Williams told Sky, "That’s a real compliment from Toto – they did such an amazing job at Mercedes. We were showing that we could take the fight and we were closing the gap to Mercedes at the end of last season."

"I think we’ve got to see where everyone else is. At Williams we don’t really like talking about expectations, hopes or dreams for the forthcoming season but there are so many variables."

"We’ve got to see where everyone is, but if we can take that fight to Mercedes and deliver that challenge and challenge for the title this year then that would be amazing."

"It’s getting to the race track in Australia, then we will know what the reality is. All I care about is that we’ve got the Mercedes engine in our car and it’s the best engine and as long as they can keep that development curve and keep matching what other people are doing and keeping that gap then I don’t have a huge amount to worry about."

"It’s about what we can do with our chassis that’s important and our aerodynamics package in order to make sure we can close that gap to Mercedes."

The daughter of team founder Sir Frank Williams has been at the forefront of the team's renaissance in 2014 after two years in the doldrums, but she is adamant that the renewed success has not resulted in swollen heads at Grove.

Williams told Esquire, "We always are realistic at Williams, rather than getting carried away. We made such a progression last year, and this year we need to build on that. We're here in Formula 1 to win, and we didn't win a race last year."

"So clearly one of our ambitions is to win races [in 2015] and then to build on the progress that we've made and to get closer to the front-runners, close that gap and one day fight for another World Championship. So improvement would be a summary," added Williams.