Williams slowed by engine problems at Barcelona

This is the kind of mishap that a team in full recovery would have done well without. Williams, whose FW43 seems much more respectable than its reluctant predecessor, was thus forced to mount a 3rd engine on its new car after suffering another breakdown. 

The latest setback, an oil leak, occurred this Wednesday morning while the rookie Nicholas latifi was moving on the track. A situation that Claire Williams regrets. 

« We experienced engine issues, which is a bit frustrating, confided the deputy team principal in the afternoon. We are on our 3rd engine problem. It cost us some driving time, which is obviously a shame. 

This kind of thing can happen in winter testing. At least we are not the cause of the problem and there is nothing wrong with the car.

Apart from these setbacks, everything went well. We are completing our program as best as possible, despite this limited running. I would be happier if we could have logged more kilometers ». 

Williams had already encountered engine problems during the first week. Their stable manager assured that Mercedes was investigating the cause of the outages. 

« They are still working on the problem from last Friday, you should check with them, blurted Williams. I'm not sure they found the source of the problem. I believe the Thursday evening mishap was related to MGU-H. 

Last Friday we were also slowed down by a sensor problem, which is obviously our responsibility. But we only lost 30 minutes in the affair ». 

Contacted by AUTOhebdo, a Mercedes spokesperson responded that its Brixworth engine department “ continued to learn more about the thrusters used in real conditions, relying on the numerous data already collected on the test bench. We address issues when they arise and apply appropriate countermeasures ».