Williams scraps plan to run FW42 F1 car at filming day

Williams has been forced to abandon plans to run its new Formula 1 car for the first time in Barcelona this weekend as it is running behind schedule with its build.

Williams unveiled the new livery for its FW42 car on Monday at its Oxfordshire base, and had intended to give the car an initial run-out at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this weekend before the start of pre-season testing.

However, the team has now been forced to scrap this plan, with the FW42 now set to make its on-track debut when collective running begins on Monday.

“As anyone would expect, we have had an extremely aggressive engineering programme over the winter,” deputy team principal Claire Williams said in a statement.

“As such, we have taken the decision not to run our car during our filming day this weekend in order to allow the team to maximise the time at the factory before we head to Barcelona for the first day of the test on February 18.”

Williams enters the 2019 season aiming to bounce back from its worst F1 campaign to date, having finished at the bottom of the constructors’ championship last year.