Williams' pre-season finally under way

Williams finally bean their running at preseason testing on the third afternoon of action at the Circuit de Catalunya. George Russel gave the FW42 its first taste of the track after a week which has seen the Grove squad plunged into further misery.

Having finished bottom of last year's constructors' standings, any predictions that things could not get worse for Williams appeared wide of the mark as the team was forced to miss the first two days of testing due to the car not being built.

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According to reports, a fundamental issue in the design process is to blame, piling pressure on deputy team principal Claire Williams and chief technical officer Paddy Lowe, whose 2017 arrival from five-time reigning champions Mercedes has not had the desired uplift in Williams' fortunes.

There was at least some cheers on Wednesday afternoon, however, as reigning Formula 2 champion Russell began his F1 career in earnest, albeit more than 48 hours later than he would have liked.

Boy, does it feel good to be out on track ???? #F1Testing pic.twitter.com/Gw8NAd6c2P — ROKiT WILLIAMS RACING (@WilliamsRacing) February 20, 2019

BBC Sport reported earlier in the week that Williams anticipates a significant drop in pace on its 2019 car, a worrying prediction given that their rivals on the grid do not appear to have lost significant speed, despite a new set of aerodynamic regulations that had been expected to cut lap times by over a second.

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