Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley believes the team is gradually “inching closer” to the dominant Mercedes outfit.
The team is already eyeing its first victory of the season, with Smedley having confidence that they can challenge in both Spa and Monza as the circuits both suit the FW36.
Since the start of the year, he says the gap between Williams and Mercedes has gradually declined, however the W05 still holds a big advantage.
“If you take Mercedes as the benchmark – and they are the benchmark as they are doing by far the best job of anyone – obviously we are not a threat to them but we are inching closer to them which is really heartening to see with all the effort going in.”
What’s more impressive according to Smedley is that Williams have done it by out-developing its rivals – all of which are moving forward, but not as quickly as Williams.
“If you look at the reality of the situation, then between Mercedes, against Red Bull and against Ferrari, has that order really changed over the course of the year? Have you seen a big change in that? If you go away and look at the numbers and the percentage lap times – qualifying and race – I haven’t really seen a big change in that.
“I’ve seen McLaren get a little bit better, I’ve seen us get better, so the order is changing due to the performance and the way we are operating the car, not particularly because other people are going backwards.”
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