Williams reveal test running ahead of "fresh approach" to new F1 season

Williams has unveiled its running order across the three days of pre-season testing this week at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya.

After conducting a shakedown of the FW44 last week in wet conditions at Silverstone, Nicholas Latifi will again lead the way when testing commences on Wednesday at the Spanish track. New team-mate Alex Albon will take over in the afternoon.

On Thursday, roles will be reversed, with Albon running in the morning and Latifi in the afternoon. Friday will follow the same order as Wednesday.

Conditions are currently forecast as dry across all three days, with temperatures in the low to mid-teens, which will at least be conducive to the teams putting in a high number of laps.

Looking ahead to the test, head of vehicle performance Dave Robson said: “The FW44 is very different to previous cars, both in appearance and under the skin, and this will require a fresh approach.

"Our objectives in Barcelona are to understand the new car and to learn how to optimise it for the range of tracks that we will visit this season.

"We will also explore the performance potential of the new aerodynamic package and begin the key process of correlating the on-track performance to the wind tunnel predictions.

"We are quite accustomed to testing in Barcelona in February and we know that the overall performance of the car in these conditions is not very representative of most circuits that we will encounter over the next nine months.

"Therefore, we will be looking to understand the potential of the car and how it responds to changes that we make, gathering data and knowledge that we can call upon during the season."

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