Lance Stroll says Williams has to unearth “big gains” in order to fight among the midfield group at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Williams endured a difficult opening round in Australia, off the back of a middling pre-season campaign, and that form continued during Friday’s running at Sakhir.
Stroll and team-mate Sergey Sirotkin took only 14th and 15th in the opening session and slipped further down the pecking order during the evening, winding up 17th and 18th respectively.
Stroll’s best time was 2.5s down on pacesetter Kimi Raikkonen, as he also faced a gap of four-tenths of a second to Haas’ Kevin Magnussen, who brought up the rear of the midfield gaggle.
“It's been a tricky day in terms of where we are on the time sheets,” said Stroll.
“There is a lot to improve on, that's for sure. The car feels better than last year, but its’s still not where we want to be.
“Melbourne was a little bit better on Friday than the Friday we have experienced here in Bahrain, but it is another day tomorrow.
“I think I could make my lap a tenth or two better than where it is, but still that is not enough as we need to be looking for big gains and not just minor details.”
Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe concurred that Williams still has to make giant strides with its FW41.
“The drivers are not entirely unhappy with the car, but the pace is not where we need it to be,” said Lowe.
“Particularly in FP2, we lost competitiveness – something we need to understand overnight in order to put ourselves in better shape for qualifying.”
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