Russell and Latifi shake down Williams 2021 F1 car at Silverstone

Williams has shaken down its 2021 Formula 1 car - the FW43B - at Silverstone ahead of its official launch in March.

The British outfit became the second team to run their 2021 car on Wednesday, a day after McLaren shook down its Mercedes-powered MCL35M, using up one of its two permitted filming days at Silverstone.

Restricted to just 100km - or 17 laps of the Silverstone grand prix layout - on non-race-spec Pirelli tyres, the run provided Williams the chance to check over its systems and help get drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi up to speed ahead of the new season.

Both drivers got a turn in the new car and the team confirmed to Crash.net that "all went well" during the shakedown. 

Williams did not release any images of the FW43B on track at the British Grand Prix venue, though it did share a teaser video on social media showing Latifi watching from the pitwall as Russell blasted past on the straight.

While the car was out of focus throughout the short clip, it appeared to be sporting an all-navy livery. The Grove-based squad, which finished last in the 2020 constructors’ championship, is set to present its new car to the world on 5 March.

One step closer. 05.03.21. #FW43B pic.twitter.com/NhHDOx5gsD

— Williams Racing (@WilliamsRacing) February 17, 2021

McLaren will carry out a second filming day at Silverstone on Thursday after new signing Daniel Ricciardo had his maiden outing on Tuesday as he and teammate Lando Norris gave the MCL35M its on-track debut.

Most teams are electing not to conduct shakedown tests prior to pre-season testing on 12-14 March in Bahrain due to the quantity of carryover in the car with chassis development frozen between last season and this one.

Crash.net understands that reigning world champions Mercedes have decided against carrying out its usual filming day at Silverstone for this very reason.