Russell: There's no way Williams will be as slow as last year

George Russell believes that his new Williams for the Formula 1 2020 season will be much closer to the competition than last year.

The British driver had a good session while testing in Barcelona, clocking the seventh fastest lap time by the end of day two.

Talking to the press after his session, the 22-year-old explained how he believed the new FW42 could keep up with the midfield pack and ensure that Williams aren't marooned at the back of the pack during every race.

“There's no way we'll be as far off the pace as we were last year," he said.

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“Last year on average we were one second behind, [and] you can say that all the other teams have found three tenths - so for us to be fighting we need to have found at least that amount.

“If we can achieve what we're aiming for then I think it'll be a great job, which is to be fighting with other teams.”

Russell does think that whilst they can reach the targets they have set themselves, there is still more learning to be done to see the finished article come the first race of the season in Australia. “We just need to see - next week will be a better understanding but realistically, Melbourne is the time everybody will know where they stand.”

Russell has a new team-mate to contend with at Williams for 2020 after Robert Kubica was replaced by Nicholas Latifi.

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