Williams’ George Russell completed 119 trouble-free laps of the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday, the young rookie admitting the mileage was a big relief following last week’s drama.<\/p>\n
Williams entered pre-season testing on the back foot because of aproduction and build-up delay that impacted its Fw42’s timely arrival in Barcelona.<\/p>\n
However, without any significant reliability issues to contend with, Russell was able to diligently run through the Grove-based outfit’s data gathering and performance programmes.<\/p>\n
“After the last couple of weeks it’s a huge relief to get a day like today,” said Russell, who clocked in at the end of the day with the ninth fastest lap.<\/p>\n
“We’ve learned so much about the car at lower fuel and higher fuel, it gives us such a good indication moving forward into the next few days, and for the guys back at the factory who are already designing the upgrades.”<\/p>\n
Last week’s late start on Wednesday was followed by two laborious sessions that were more akin to shakedown runs than genuine work sessions.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Tuesday was therefore seen as the team’s first proper day of running.<\/p>\n
“It certainly hasn’t made up for last week because everyone else at this stage is fine-tuning the balance, whereas we’re needing to understand the car,” said Russell.<\/p>\n
“But I feel we’re in a good spot. The car isn’t in a perfect window right now but I feel like it’s definitely got the potential.<\/p>\n
“I think everybody’s happy with today’s performance \u2013 not in terms of lap times but in terms of no issues,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Everybody’s working so hard. We’re all human. Everybody is pretty knackered. They’ve been performing 24\/7 over the last two weeks to get us ready.”<\/p>\n
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers<\/u><\/p>\n