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Williams splits update package at British GP

Williams has adopted a mix-and-match approach to its new update package by running different configurations on Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll’s cars for the start of the British Grand Prix weekend.

Following a difficult weekend in Austria, where both drivers were knocked out in Q1, Williams has been seeking answers as to exactly what went wrong last weekend.

Some of that focus is on getting a better understanding of the major update package it ran at the Red Bull Ring, which the team believes should deliver a step forward in pace.

In a bid to help its understanding of the impact the new parts have, the team has mixed up which elements run on its cars.

Williams FW40, front wing

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Heading in to the British GP weekend, Lance Stroll ran the old nose support, the new barge boards and the new vertical conditioners (pictured above).

Felipe Massa ran the new nose, the new bargeboards and the old vertical conditioners with the three splitters on top of the sidepods (below).

While Williams suspects most of its Austrian GP issues were caused by tyres, it has concluded that matters were not helped by it not finding a good balance with the update package.

Massa said: “We had some changes in the car. I’m not saying with the package, but in the car, that maybe we had a little bit different balance in the high speed corners that didn’t work in the proper way.

“So we have some ideas for this track, and especially here it’s a track where high speed is very important. We have some ideas that can maybe make the car a little bit more proper balanced in the high speed.”