Williams: 'Long way' to go for team to return to top of Formula 1

Williams last won the Constructors' Championship in 1997

Williams said they still have a long way to go to return to the top of Formula 1 as they launched their new car at Silverstone on Tuesday.

New rules have been introduced in F1 this year to make the field more competitive.

"To get the team back to where we want to be, from where it was, is a long way," said team principal Jost Capito.

"It's not something we can fix in one year."

The German - a former VW executive who was recruited by Williams' new owners a year ago to mastermind the team's recovery from a bleak period - said that Williams still lack resources compared with the top teams, and that it would take time for the effect of the new rules and budget cap to make a difference.

"Compared to the top teams, we still were lacking," Capito said. "We didn't have investment before the last year, and over the last year investment was limited by the cost cap.

"Progress will be [measured by] how we can improve compared to competition through the season, wherever we start the season."

Williams initially unveiled their new livery on Tuesday on a show car, before running the definitive new FW44 at Silverstone and releasing pictures of it.

The shakedown test was delayed by an electronics problem, but both drivers tried the car in wet conditions in the afternoon.

Williams have a new driver this year in Anglo-Thai Alexander Albon, a replacement for George Russell who has moved to Mercedes. Canadian Nicholas Latifi continues in the other car.

Capito said he was confident Albon - who had two seasons with the Red Bull teams in 2019 and 2020 before being demoted to their reserve driver in 2021 - was a strong choice.

"I believe he grew a lot through this last year and that made him absolutely eager to come back," Capito said. "I believe he is still a way from his peak - he can be much better.

"I believe his values really fit with Williams. He seems to be a really happy guy. We talk openly and he feels at home, and I believe if he feels at home he will deliver great stuff on track as well."

Albon is highly rated by his contemporaries among the younger generation of drivers, such as Russell and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, having come through the junior categories with them since he was a boy.

"It feels like [I've had] a year out, a year itching to get going," Albon said. "It just makes you hungry to get back into the seat.

"I was trying to get as much experience as I could, see things from a different perspective, see how the team operates not just from the driving side. And hopefully I can use that experience from last year.

"The team is on the climb and it's exciting to be part of the journey. Hopefully with my experience I can bump them along a bit."

No more Senna 'S'

Williams have decided to stop using the Senna 'S' on their cars for the first time since 1995, the year after the three-time world champion Ayrton Senna was killed in one of their cars.

The 'S' is a symbol of Senna's foundation, which supports children in poverty in Brazil. Capito said the team would continue to donate to the foundation, and that a dedicated area of their museum had been put aside as a memorial to Senna.

"The decision was that we want to move on in the future," he said.

"We have a new era, we have a new car. And we refurbished also our museum, where we have a special area to celebrate Ayrton."

Capito also said the decision had not been discussed with Senna's family.

"We are working with the foundation and we will increase our effort with the foundation and work on how we can to support the Senna foundation more," he added.

"More people benefit from this. If we can help people, especially through the foundation, I think that's a very good programme. But it has to be still finally defined."

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