AT&T Williams 2008 French GP Preview
Wurz in 2007 French GP
By Williams F1 Team
June 16 2008
After a brief trip across the Atlantic for the Canadian GP, Formula One moves to France this weekend for round eight of the Championship and the first of seven consecutive European races, the French GP. Williams has a strong tradition of success in France and will be determined to capitalise on its competitive pace and elevate its position in the Constructors’ Championship this weekend..
| French Grand Prix: Magny-Cours |
 |
| Race Preview: |
| After a brief trip across
the Atlantic for the Canadian Grand Prix, Formula One moves to France
this weekend for round eight of the Championship and the first of seven
consecutive European races, the French Grand Prix. The Circuit de Nevers,
nestled in the depth of the French countryside in the Bourgogne region
of central France, is 150 miles to the south of Paris and made its first
appearance on the Formula One calendar in 1991. The track is one of
seven French circuits to have hosted a Grand Prix since the country’s
first race in 1950. Williams has a strong tradition of success in France. In the thirty years that it has raced on French asphalt, the team has taken a quarter of all possible victories, secured a third of all poles and set one in every four fastest laps, making it one of the most successful teams to have raced at the oldest Grand Prix on the calendar. Having spent three days testing at Barcelona after the Canadian Grand Prix preparing the cars for the race at Magny-Cours, the team will be determined to capitalise on its competitive pace and elevate its position in the Constructors’ Championship this forthcoming weekend. Nico Rosberg: 
"I really like the Circuit de Nevers. I’ve had some great races there in
the past, and it’s a return to Europe as well, which is good.
Magny-Cours hasn’t been one of our strongest tracks in recent years, so
we’ll need to push hard. Unfortunately, it’s going to be harder than
usual as I have the ten-place grid penalty from the pit lane incident in
Montreal to contend with as well. We had a three day test in Barcelona
last week, during which we did some set-up work for this race and tested
some new parts, all of which will hopefully help us this weekend to
achieve a good result."Kazuki Nakajima: 
"I have some experience of Magny-Cours because I raced there last
year in GP2. It’s a nice track to drive, so I feel quite confident going
into the weekend. We showed good pace at the past two races in Monaco
and Canada and we need to carry that with us to France and make up for
the recent drought in points. As for the place itself, it’s really in
the middle of nowhere and so a bit quiet, very different to Montreal,
but I quite like that and am looking forward to getting there."
Sam Michael Technical Director:
Circuit de Nevers,
Magny-Cours |
KEY RACE DATA: AT&T WILLIAMS DRIVER PERFORMANCE STATISTICS 2008
NICO ROSBERG KAZUKI NAKAJIMA
GP RESULT FASTEST LAP PTS RESULT FASTEST LAP PTS
AUS Q7/R3 1:28.090, 5th 6 Q13/R6 1:29.639, 14th 3
MYS Q16/R14 1:36.782, 13th 0 Q22/R17 1:37.711, 17th 0
BHR Q8/ R8 1:34.072, 6th 1 Q16/R14 1:35.433, 17th 0
ESP Q15/DNF 1:23.319, 13th 0 Q12/R7 1:23.549, 15th 2
TUR Q11/R8 1:27.795, 9th 1 Q16/DNF n/a 0
MON Q6/DNF 1:21.270, 15th 0 Q14/R7 1:19.910, 13th 2
CAN Q5/R10 1:17.977, 5th 0 Q12/DNF 1:18.784, 14th 0
WILLIAMS PERFORMANCE STATISTICS 1978 TO 2008 |
 |
"We
will be bringing various aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades to the FW30
for the French Grand Prix to further improve the cars’ performance. All
the parts were tested at the Barcelona test last week and all were
successfully signed-off.