Williams Jerez test summary 2003-02-25/28

In an effort to conduct a test programme in an environment that better reflects expected conditions at the forthcoming Grand Prix in Australia, the BMW WilliamsF1 Team moved its testing programme south to Jerez in Spain for the final four days of pre-season preparation this week.

However, weather conditions on the south-western tip of the Iberian Peninsula were unseasonably bad at the beginning of the week. Despite this Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher did manage two full days of dry running in the new FW25, while official reserve driver Marc Gené completed three days of systems and tyre development work using an FW24D at Imola.

Sam Michael (Chief Operations Engineer, WilliamsF1):

"Our winter testing program concluded today in Jerez with Juan and Ralf. Juan tested in wet conditions for two days and worked on wet tyres with Michelin as well as doing some aero and electronic testing. Ralf spent most of the time on dry tyres, completing a full race simulation, tyre testing for Melbourne and Malaysia as well as evaluating new aero components for Melbourne. Additionally, Marc was testing tyre compounds and brakes in Imola."

"The test team have been on the road since Christmas and have worked through many items before the season starts. With the FW25 we have solved a lot of reliability and performance issues typically associated with a new car and are now looking forward to the start of the Grand Prix season."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"The test was positive for BMW. On Thursday for the first time we made a complete simulation of the new programme with the warm-up, the qualifying and the race with one engine. This worked out very well and we collected a lot of information. Beyond this we supported the work with the car and tyres and made plenty of progress."

-williams-