Formula 1 News

Williams: 2008 British GP preview 

Sam Michael, Technical Director: “From the high speed first sector through to the low speed third sector, Silverstone has quite a varied track layout. Such variation often demands compromise which presents the drivers and engineers with a fairly significant challenge when it comes to getting the optimum set-up direction and therefore the quickest lap time at this track. Aerodynamic efficiency and a solid mechanical balance are key requirements for a competitive performance around Silverstone. With overtaking extremely difficult around the lap due to the speed the drivers carry into the corners, the emphasis on a strong qualifying is perhaps somewhat exaggerated at this race. A particularly hard track on tyres due to the heavy loads accrued at high speeds, Bridgestone will bring the hard and medium compound tyres to this race. The best strategy tends to be either a one or two stop. Last week’s test at Silverstone afforded all of the teams a final opportunity to fine tune their set-ups for the race.”

Kazuki Nakajima: “I’m really excited about this race, not only because it’s the team’s home Grand Prix, but also because I count it as my second home race as I’ve lived in England for quite a long time now. We spent last week testing at Silverstone and managed to cover off a lot of preparation for the race, which was important for us after Magny-Cours. For the first time this year, I’ll hopefully bring some friends from Oxford with me to this race, which will be a novelty! That, and being able to drive home and not contend with an airport for once, will make a nice change!”

Nico Rosberg: “Williams won their first Grand Prix at Silverstone back in 1979 so it’s always nice when this race comes around and we can compete in front of our home crowd. We have a lot of work to do though at the moment to improve our competitiveness. To help with that, we had a three day test at Silverstone last week. We covered a lot of ground with the FW30, and that should help us out in the next few races. Silverstone is a great track to race on so I’m looking forward to it, and I think we’ll do a lot better than we did in France.”

source: AT&T Williams