The team had hoped that the arrival of the new rules for 2022 would help them continue their recovery, after finishing eighth in the 2021 constructors’ championship. However, Williams has found it difficult to get off the back of the grid in the nine races played so far.
Albon – who joined the team this season as a replacement for George Russell, and who left for Mercedes – has scored three points on his return to F1 after spending 2021 as Red Bull’s reserve driver, but team-mate Latifi is yet to score points.
Changes to the FW44 include a new floor and bodywork modifications, with which the team hopes to move closer to the top 10 at the British GP.
“We have an updated aerodynamic package for this weekend, which we will only be running on Alex’s car as we want to test its behavior and confirm that it works as intended,” said Williams’ head of vehicle performance Dave Robson .
“The bodywork and floor form the basis of the upgrade and are intended to efficiently increase the car’s downforce.”
“We’re looking forward to getting to our home race and checking out the new parts – they’re likely to change the balance and handling of the car, and it may take a bit of time to build them up for the drivers to get the most out of them.”
“Since next week’s race in Austria is a sprint race, we will try to learn as much as possible this weekend.”
With its vast collection of fast corners, Silverstone is expected to be one of the best showcases for the 2022 generation of F1 cars, due to the increased downforce at high speeds.
In a conversation with Motorsport.com in 2021, Robson also explained that Silverstone is one of the toughest circuits on the tyres, and looking after the front left in particular is key to managing the length of stints during the race.
“If you put the aero balance where you would like it for high-speed corners, then you run into some problems on low-speed corner exit,” he said.
“There’s also the way you set up the car, how it interacts with the tyres, it’s a very demanding circuit for the tires at the moment.
“The front left tire is affected by fast right-hand corners, so you have to be careful how you take those corners and use aerodynamic balance and mechanical balance so they complement each other and don’t wear out the front tire. left”.
