Williams insist their pre-season testing pace is genuine and they head to the opening race in Melbourne with “some confidence”.
The Grove outfit have impressed hugely during testing after Felipe Massa set the fastest lap over the eight days in Bahrain, whilst Valtteri Bottas lapped fourth quickest.
The team’s chief technical officer, Pat Symonds, insists they were running an honest programme and had no aim of ‘showing off’.
“We have done every bit of homework that we can do, and more, so we have to go there with some confidence,” he told Autosport.
“On top of which, we have done it at a reasonable pace so we have fully stretched everything.”
Whilst some teams – particularly those running Renault engines – have had to run with reduced power, Symonds says they’ve pushed their car, the FW36, at all times and that proves it’s reliable.
“We have stretched the car at all times, we haven’t really limped round so I really hope we have uncovered anything that might have been lurking there.
“We have run a very genuine winter test programme – what you see is what you get and I suspect that is true for most people.”
