While the drivers and teams hit the circuit for the first pre-season test session of the 2019 season, the Williams team was noticeably absent from the action. The Williams F1 team has once again postponed the track debut of their new car, saying that the car will hit the track as early as Wednesday due to project delays.
Originally expecting to shakedown the new car in the days leading up to the first pre-season test, Williams announced that they would not be able to test the car at all prior to the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona. Just days later, the team confirmed that they would miss the first day of pre-season testing, with the car still in the team’s factory. With further delays, the team’s plan has changed and the car will not appear on track until Wednesday at the earliest.
“It is looking more likely than not that we will now not be in a position to run on track until Wednesday at the earliest,” explained Claire Williams, the Deputy Team Principal of the team. “This is obviously extremely disappointing, but it is unfortunately the situation we are in. We will be getting the FW42 on track as soon as we are able.”
The team’s reserve driver, Nicholas Latifi, was originally scheduled to drive the car on Tuesday. However, he has been scrapped from the schedule in favor of the team’s fulltime drivers for the 2019 season. George Russell will drive the car on its debut run Wednesday, with Robert Kubica taking over the final day of the first test.
However, there’s still no guarantee that the car will be ready in time for running on Wednesday. Some have started to worry that this may be the beginning of the end for the historic Williams team. The team is looking to recover from a dismal 2018 season in which the team’s double rookie lineup only scored seven points, ranking them a distant last in the World Constructors’ Championship title.
