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Williams embarrassing after only setting 23 laps on day 3

Williams "embarrassing" after only setting 23 laps on day 3

20-02-2019 17:45
2

It was a tough 2018 for Williams and it’s not getting any easier and Claire Williams has described their start to 2019 testing as “embarrassing”.

Williams finally got out on track on day three of testing after missing shakedown and the opening days of pre-season testing in Barcelona.

George Russell, the team’s rookie set 23 laps but finished 13th slowest, eight seconds behind the surprise pacesetter, Daniil Kyvat.

Kyvat just beat Kimi Raikkonen to top spot by recording a 1:17:748s with only 15 minutes of the day left.

Claire Williams the team’s deputy principal said: “It's not a situation that we anticipated, or that we ever wanted to find ourselves in.

"We're not just disappointed.

“It's embarrassing not bringing a race car to a circuit when everyone else has managed to do that, particularly a team like ours that has managed to bring a race car to testing for the past 40-odd years."

Williams finished bottom of the constructor's championship last year and many people will be betting on a repeat following a contrasting off-season which saw the arrivals of Russell and Robert Kubica.