Despite Nico Rosberg’s crash in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix, Williams leave Monte Carlo buoyed by an impressive showing from the improved and up-graded FW30.
Rosberg’s double-impact with the armco at the swimming pool complex, which wrote off his Williams and brought out the safety car for the second time, was hardly the result Frank Williams had envisaged celebrating his 600th Grand Prix with – even with Kazuki Nakajima’s solid points finish.
His Grove-based squad will nonetheless take heart from the way Rosberg hustled his Williams into sixth place in qualifying, the team’s hard work at Paul Ricard to implement a new aero upgrade, visibly paying off at the Principality.
“Our aero package for Monaco worked fine,” reflected Technical Director Sam Michael. “We had some good improvements, some of them only applicable to maximum downforce circuits.”
“Although we used the extended engine cover fin during practice, we did not race it,” he added.
The new so-called “shark fin” cover, first inspired by Red Bull and then developed by Renault, is designed to improve airflow to the rear wing, even when the tail is sliding or in cross winds.
Although not essential around the twisty streets of Monaco, the fin should yield a greater performance gain in Montreal where speeds are comparatively higher.
Williams head across the Atlantic locked in a fierce battle with Red Bull Racing, both teams tied on fifteen points in the constructors’ championship.
