Wurz Encouraged by Williams Progress

Only five races gone and only five points more to exceed 2006 total

Alex Wurz scored his first world championship points after being away from racing in F1 for six years. Despite being outperformed so far by his younger teammate, Nico Rosberg, and also out-qualified by him in Monaco; it was Wurz who finished the race in front - climbing from 11th to 7th place.

However, it is that this is AT&T Williams' third points-scoring finish in five races which is indicating to the team of their progress so far. Only in the second race were they denied points due to reliability issues when Rosberg was running 6th until his engine failed. Currently 5th in the Constructors Championship and two points ahead of their engine supplier, Toyota, Williams feel quietly confidence of consistently scoring points during the rest of the season. Wurz says, "We expect more to come, and to score more points, but what we expect is one thing. For me, hands-on work is more important than expectation and everyone in the team is working hard and going in the same direction at the moment."

Williams, winners of many championships in the past, had a sub-standard year in 2006 when their performance fell dramatically due mostly to persistent reliability problems. Wurz, who has been a test driver for Williams through both times of fighting for the championship and the recent years of rapid decline, feels there is now a distinct turn in their performance. "The team has moved a long way forward since last season and, if we can keep the momentum, Williams will move further forward. In what timescale is hard to say, that depends not only on our own performance but also on the other teams' progress", he observes. "So far, I have worked with two other Championship winning teams and this year Williams have found a group of guys which work very well as a team. We need a bit of patience along with the motivation then we will see more results coming through, which is better than expectation."

Having accumulated 7 championship points so far in 2007, a continuity of their current form would ensure Williams exceeding their 2006 season total of 11 points by a significant margin.

- AC