Williams Imola test notes 2004-02-25

Difficult weather conditions meant that BMW WilliamsF1 Team driver, Juan Pablo Montoya, was unable to complete today's scheduled test programme at Imola.

Once again, the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari was hit by bad weather, with rain and freezing temperatures playing havoc with the BMW WilliamsF1 Team's scheduled programme.

Juan Pablo, having taken over testing duties from Ralf Schumacher, concentrated on set-up work in the morning, In the afternoon, as the track began to dry out, a tyre test was planned, however, this was compromised when further rain showers hit the Italian circuit. This was the Colombian's first outing in the new WilliamsF1 BMW FW26 at Imola.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"Despite the circuit being very icy this morning, we spent the first part of the session working on traction control on intermediate tyres. As soon as it was dry enough for slick tyres, we worked through a compound tyre test for Michelin. The day was productive and we've covered some more ground before Melbourne."

Juan Pablo will be back behind the wheel of the FW26 tomorrow, when the BMW WilliamsF1 Team concludes its pre-season test programme. In the run up to next weekend's Australian Grand Prix, the team has completed more than 20,000 kilometres of testing.

Meanwhile at Monza, Ralf Schumacher has been busy running a BMW M3 GTR, as used in the 24-hours races at the Nurburgring and Spa-Francorchamps.

-williams-