Williams is hoping to move back in front of Force India in 2018 after being comprehensively beaten by the Silverstone outfit to fourth place in the Constructors’ standings this season.
The Grove team had a disappointing year after a decent start when upgrades introduced at the Austrian Grand Prix dropped them down the order. From that moment, the consistent points results for Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez saw them pull clear with an eventual margin of 104 points at the end of the year.
Though results started to improve towards the end, Williams often found themselves towards the back of the midfield pack, as the likes of Renault and McLaren made gains, with the lack of significant development highlighted by Technical Director Paddy Lowe.
“We started the season with a car that was generally quicker than theirs but we’ve ended generally slower so we have lost ground to Force India on performance,” he said of the battle between the two teams.
“We have both been developing through the season at a rate you don’t see and they’ve done a better job, it’s our job to recover that and more over the winter. We need to make a bigger step with the new car than they make.”
As well as improving the car, Williams also has to consider who will line-up alongside Lance Stroll, following the retirement of Felipe Massa at the end of the season. Robert Kubica is many people’s favourite while names like Pascal Wehrlein and Daniil Kvyat have also been mentioned.
Lowe admits, however, a lot will rest on the progression of Stroll, who had a slow start to his F1 career which arguably hurt the team when their car was at their strongest.
“The first half of the season, we weren’t scoring the points, particularly on Lance’s side, when the opportunities were presented,” he commented. “With Lance new to the sport this year, it was always going to be a more difficult first half than the second half and those two factors were enough for Force India to get a stronger tally.”