New Williams garage screen is the unexpected star of Bahrain testing

If you've been keeping your eyes on testing today in Bahrain and were able to look away from Audi's rather intriguing sidepod design, then you will have seen what Williams has added to its garages. The Grove outfit has added a pair of animated eyes to the back of its monitors via a screen and it's quickly become the talk of the paddock.

While Williams missed the shakedown in Barcelona earlier this year, team principal James Vowles has been confident in his squad's work so far this season.  

"A strong day for us in terms of getting the mileage under our belts," he said following the first day of testing in Sakhir. "Our intent all the way through was just making sure we did the mileage required to learn and understand about the chassis, the power unit, and to start flushing gremlins out of the system.

"There will be a lot of them, and these next three days are all about getting a good foundation to work from, and we can then build performance from there. In terms of the car, what I can say is there's no vices to it, there's nothing particularly poor, but clearly we have to dig into the details."

There is one detail doing the rounds, however, but it's not connected to the car. It's the monitor that hangs in front of the driver in the garage. This would usually show the driver a vast array of data and live feeds while they are sat in their car waiting for the next drive, but Williams has given it an additional job: entertaining all of us sitting in front of our televisions. 

"We are always looking for ways to innovate and push the boundaries in how we connect with fans, and these new screens are an example of that," a spokesperson for the team told Motorsport.com. "We are pleased they have generated so much interest and look forward to showing what else they can do."

Carlos Sainz, Williams

Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images via Getty Images

Like something out of a Pixar movie, the eyes blink and move around. In fact, it's reminiscent of the Las Vegas Sphere, which also boasts eyes that follow cars as they race around the base of the Vegas feature. This will likely follow the team to Australia for the first grand prix of the season, and if you didn't manage to catch it today, there's still plenty more to come this week. Make sure you're staying up to date via our live reporting.