Williams needs a winning car

Williams has not had quite the success it expected this year and team boss Frank Williams admits that the drivers need a car that is capable of taking victories. Juan Pablo Montoya scored the highest finish for Williams so far this year when he came second in Malaysia. Since then the team has only had one further podium, also Montoya, third at Imola.

Frank Williams.

Photo by BMW PressClub.

"It's very simple: in order to win you need a car in which you can win in," said Williams, according to the team website. "Our goal has to be to supply a car that is in a position to do so. The best driver in the world can only win when he has a car capable of doing so."

This season has seen a shuffle of the top three teams in the constructors' standings. For some years the top three have been Ferrari, McLaren and Williams but although Ferrari remains at the top, Renault and BAR are currently second and third.

Of course, that may yet change. Williams is fourth and McLaren fifth with six races still to go. Although the 2004 Williams has proved to be faster than last year's car, rivals are, naturally, not idle. "The WilliamsF1 BMW FW26 is faster than its predecessor, but Ferrari, B.A.R., Renault and McLaren-Mercedes have also improved," said Williams.

While the chassis may need further improvement, BMW is happy with the progress of the P84 engine and believes two of its three targets for this year have been achieved. "The first target was to have a reliable 800km engine for the first race and that was achieved by Melbourne," said motorsport director Mario Theissen.

"The second target was to raise race power, to make maximum power available in the race itself because this year the second 400km of engine life is most important, so it was our priority to make sure we had full power available in the race, and that was achieved by Imola."

"Since then we have been able to run at maximum engine speed even in top gear, which is an advantage on the straights. Now, our third target, which we are working on, is continuous improvement in power and reliability."