F1 News: Williams unlock ‘chunk of performance’ ahead of 2024 season

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F1 Team unlock ‘chunk of performance’ ahead of 2024 season

There could be some exciting times ahead for the team

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 17 January 2024 11:57

Williams' chief technical officer Pat Fry has said that the team's progress is 'impressive', as he reflected on his 'first impressions' of the Grove-based Formula 1 outfit.

Fry joined Williams in November, having left his position at Alpine earlier in the 2023 season.

The former McLaren man has already emphasised his desire to build a team capable of winning races at Williams, and maybe even challenge for the world championship in the future.

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He was persuaded to join the team by James Vowles off the back of a 2023 season where they managed to make huge progress, with star driver Alex Albon putting in some sublime performances and finishing with 27 points.

James Vowles started his role as team principal with Williams at the start of last season

Pat Fry joined Williams in 2023, having previously worked with McLaren, Ferrari and Alpine

Alex Albon put in some supreme performances in 2023

Williams' big ambitions

Now, Fry has revealed how he has got on in his first few weeks with the team, as they look to piece together a 2024 car that can build last season's success, where they achieved their highest constructors' championship position since 2017.

“I always try and write as much as I can down in the first two weeks of my first impressions,” he told F1.com.

“Often when you dig in, the first impression is right but I have to understand the reasons of why it happened. I can easily list five, 10, 20, 30 things that are… not worrying, but think we have to get into.

"But you then have to dig down to the root cause, and a lot of the root causes are things we have to address in the long-term plan.

“It’s impressive to see how well Williams have done. Certainly [last] year, there has been better collaboration between various groups – engineering and aero. It’s looking promising.

"All these things are down to how well everyone else has done, but they have unlocked a chunk of performance which is a good step.”

Ferrari Williams Alpine James Vowles Pat Fry