"Rome isn't built in a day" but Williams "making progress" - Russell

George Russell has warned that time is still needed for Wiliams to close in on Formula 1's tight midfield fight.

Williams endured the worst campaign in its history in 2019, scoring just a single point through Robert Kubica in the rain-affected German Grand Prix.

Comparing the 2020 FW43 to its predecessor, and ahead of this season's opening race in Austria, Russell is far more confident the team has given him what he needs to fight this time around.

"Last year we made some steps but it was a really difficult car to drive," said Russell in Thursday's FIA press conference at the Red Bull Ring.

"I really tried to push it to the limit but it was snapping on me, I was losing the rear end, and losing confidence.

"Obviously, we’ve only been to Barcelona so far, but it [the FW43] was really pleasant to drive, so I think for me, and for Nicholas [Latifi, team-mate] as well, it’s going to give us more confidence, and hopefully just bring that extra bit of performance."

While warning that the cooler temperatures of pre-season testing make it difficult to read too much into the performance figures, Russell insists the team is moving in the right direction.

He added: "We built the foundations last year, and we’re continuing that into this year. Rome isn't built in a day, and these things just take time.

"We are making progress. It’s very difficult when you come from so far behind the rest of the pack, but I think we’ll judge our performance based on the others, seeing how we hopefully have closed the gap to P9 in the constructors and the rest of the midfield and go from there."

Before you go...

Hamilton: Mercedes must 'shine our light as bright as possible' to encourage change

Five talking points ahead of the 2020 Formula 1 season

Related

More F1 news

Latest F1 news

'They won't be going for dinner together' - Ferrari driver relationship update revealed

• 52 minutes ago

F1 fans can watch next race for FREE as new partnership announced

• 1 hour ago

Honda chief opens up on Aston Martin partnership and why 2026 has been a major struggle

• 2 hours ago

F1 star George Russell opens up on horrifying 'life or death' accident

• 3 hours ago

'Lewis Hamilton won't be around for long' - Charles Leclerc told to be patient

• Today 08:27

F1 News Today: Lewis Hamilton suffers title blow as George Russell reveals injury incident

• Today 06:59