George Russell does believe Williams can close the midfield pack but admits the team is having to be “patient”.
The British team remains stuck at the back of the grid seven races into the 2019 season and the gap to the rest is still substantial with 1.4s between Russell and 18th placed Lance Stroll in Canada qualifying.
Speaking ahead of the race weekend, however, the Mercedes junior says Williams’ approach to catching up means the performance will be more varied.
“We know what we have in store to bring to the car, but these things take time,” Russell was quoted by F1i.com.
“To make a front wing, it takes eight to ten weeks, the same with the floor.
“For us, we’ve almost got to be more patient than the other teams because we want to bring something greater than just little things here or there. That’s not going to bring much performance.
“We’re still testing some things at the moment and we’re getting some very good information back. I do believe there will be a point where we can fight with everybody.”
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Until this point, Russell’s main aim has been to simply make the most of what Williams have given him and in Montreal, he felt he did just that.
“The car was feeling relatively nice to drive and we made the most of the package,” he said. “We now need to bolt some downforce on it and hopefully we will find some lap time.
“Overall, I was pleased with my performance today and we made the most of the situation.”