Williams: ‘Ferrari have caught up’

Williams deputy team principle Claire Williams has said that Ferrari are the only team to have improved by a significant amount over the winter.

The Italian team topped the timesheets on three of the four days of the opening test in Jerez last week, and, although times in testing are meaningless, Williams believes their pace is genuine.

She told Sky Sports: “The formbook hasn’t really changed, every team seems to be in a similar position. Ferrari may have caught up a little bit, but we’re pretty happy with the progress we’ve made.

“From the times we’ve seen so far, we’re probably there or thereabouts from where we ended last season.”

Claire, daughter of team founder and owner Sir Frank, has her sights set on race wins this season, as they look to cut the gap to Mercedes at the front.

“I like to hope rather than expect. But that [winning races]’s got to be our goal. We finished third in the championship last year which as such a major achievement for us, but our goals this year are to improve on that.

“We want those wins this year and Felipe and Valtteri on the top step of the podium.”

The season starts in Australia in a month’s time.

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