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[Irv the Swerve]

The new Williams FW30, took to the track by "the Hulk" today at Valencia.

I know that this is just a winter livery, like Macca orange a few years ago but I hope they would consider using this black/blue livery.

[Clarkey3262]

Qualiy looking car - the livery anyway. Reminds me of the Minardi of 01 and 02 - hopefully not the pace! If the car can improve on what was a good car (nothing special at least) then they should go and secure a few more points and maybe challenge for a lucky podium

[texasmr2]

Nice livery and I would be so very pleased to see Sir Frank make a big if not huge step forward this season.

[7UpJordan]

That's a smooth looking car, I hope it goes just as fast as it looks good. Williams like to use their dark blue livery in the winter period, can't wait to see the new livery.

[certom]

they're using 6 different liveries during this winter tests, in order to celebrate the different anniversaries of the team and of sir frank in 2008 and 2009 (600 GPs, and i can't remember any other sorry!)

[7UpJordan]

they're using 6 different liveries during this winter tests, in order to celebrate the different anniversaries of the team and of sir frank in 2008 and 2009 (600 GPs, and i can't remember any other sorry!)

And also this year sees the 30th anniversary of Williams entering F1 as a proper team (Frank had built cars previously since the late 60's labelled as Williams) with just 1 car, the FW06 and Alan Jones at the wheel.

[al4x]

deep navy blue looks real good, load of pieces hanging off it tho!

[7UpJordan]

deep navy blue looks real good, load of pieces hanging off it tho!

To be honest, I think the car's actually got less hanging off it than say the Ferrari.

[McLaren Fan]

The car looks good and I'm sure it will be an improvement. My only concern is that teams such as Williams, Red Bull et al. is that they all will be making steps forward and it will be a case of who has made the biggest step forward. As I've said before, this season could be one of the most intriguing in a long time.

[raithrover]

Impressive car, must say we're seeing a few decent cars this season. Makes me very hopeful for a great 2008.

[piledriver]

Nice livery and I would be so very pleased to see Sir Frank make a big if not huge step forward this season.

I totally agree with you.

[madbrad]

It looks speedy. I predict it will sweep the season!

[8-ball]

looks good hopefully it will be competitive. If Nico is going to be there till 2010 (a mistake imo) he deserves at least one competitive season

[7UpJordan]

This car has got potential... and Nico set his fastest time on a long run!!

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64804

Ferrari duo set the pace at Valencia

By Jonathan Noble Tuesday, January 22nd 2008, 16:06 GMT

Felipe Massa at ValenciaFerrari duo Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen led the way on the first major head-to-head test with new cars on Tuesday, although it was the pace of the Williams that caused a few surprises.

Massa and Raikkonen continued development work of their F2008 at Valencia in Spain, and Massa's best effort put him more than half a second clear at the end of the day.

But it was the early pace of the new Williams FW30, which only ran for the first time yesterday, that impressed onlookers - as Nico Rosberg set the third quickest time during a long run.

That effort put him almost two tenths ahead of McLaren duo Heikki Kovalainen and Pedro de la Rosa.

Fernando Alonso continued to put mileage on the new Renault R28, although his sixth fastest time was done on a short run.

Behind the Spaniard, Kazuki Nakajima continued development work in the interim Williams FW29, with Sebastian Vettel setting the eighth fastest time in the updated Toro Rosso car that will start the 2008 season.

Marko Asmer was given another run in last year's BMW Sauber, setting the ninth best time, and his team will be wondering why he was able to outpace Nick Heidfeld in the new F1.08 - which had sprouted a second set of Viking horns on the nose.

Toyota's new TF108 also failed to shine, with Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock languishing near the bottom of the timesheets.

"It was a tricky day, as usual here in Valencia," said Trulli. "It is always quite hard to reach a conclusion on a track where conditions change rapidly from run to run but it was important to get more data and more idea about the new car. I tried some set-up changes and development work testing aerodynamics.

"I am pretty happy with what we have achieved but we know there is still room for improvement so we will continue to work hard. We did quite a lot of laps today which was the plan and it was good to see the new car continues to be reliable."

David Coulthard split the Toyotas in the new Red Bull Racing RB4, while Alex Wurz finished at the bottom of the times on his debut as a test driver for Honda Racing.

There were a total of four red flags during the day, two caused by Heidfeld, who stopped on track once and went off the other time. The other two red flags where caused by Massa running out of fuel and Alonso breaking down at the end of the day.

Today's times:

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Massa Ferrari (B) 1:12.182 97 *
2. Raikkonen Ferrari (B) 1:12.721 100 *
3. Rosberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:12.838 80 *
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:13.026 100 *
5. de la Rosa McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:13.163 107 *
6. Alonso Renault (B) 1:13.316 133 *
7. Nakajima Williams-Toyota (B) 1:13.473 89
8. Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:13.627 86
9. Asmer BMW-Sauber (B) 1:13.669 44
10. Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:13.675 73
11. Heidfeld BMW-Sauber (B) 1:13.779 80 *
12. Trulli Toyota (B) 1:13.820 69 *
13. Coulthard Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:13.944 70 *
14. Glock Toyota (B) 1:14.095 76 *
15. Liuzzi Force India-Ferrari (B) 1:15.095 64
16. Wurz Honda (B) 1:15.440 49

* 2008 car

All Timing Unofficial

[McLaren Fan]

From autosport.com:

Michael: Williams not ready to win yet

By Steve Cooper and Jonathan Noble Thursday, February 14th 2008, 14:14 GMT

Williams still need to take big steps with their new FW30 if they are to challenge McLaren and Ferrari for race wins this year, despite their impressive pre-season testing performances.

That is the view of the Grove-based team's technical director Sam Michael, who has told this week's Autosport that he believes the team are still not yet at the level they want to be with their new car.

"We've got a good reference but we're definitely not quick enough to go and win Grands Prix, which is what our target is," said Michael. "We're still far enough from McLaren and Ferrari that we need to take some big steps to compete with them.

"But the car's a good step on from where it was last year, and we finished the season relatively strongly. If we can keep going in that direction then that is the most important thing."

Although Williams appear to have made a step up in form among the midfield teams, Michael thinks it is too early to say how they stand against their nearest rivals.

"It's always difficult to see other team's problems because they're not always visible from the outside. And you think they're major problems but there will be other things behind the scenes.

"I don't think BMW have much of a problem looking at their lap times in the last day of Valencia and all the way through Barcelona.

"They are competitive - they may not be where McLaren and Ferrari are but they're definitely at the front of the chasing pack."

I have to say I agree with all of that. There is no doubt Williams have made a big step forward, but there is still some way to go. Hopefully in several years they will be back to the Williams we all know and love.