Williams Technical Director Mike Coughlan was upbeat about his team’s prospects for the Australian Grand Prix following the conclusion of winter testing in Barcelona. With both Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas talking up the handling of the FW35 chassis, the recently applied aero-upgrades appear to have had the desired effect.
Backing up Maldonado's praise of the updates, Coughlan said: "We’ve concluded a very successful couple of tests with the FW35, without any major problems to stop us running. We brought an upgrade package and in race trim the car looks competitive."
Moving on to discuss the opening race in Melbourne, Coughlan says he is not worried about the potential effects of an expected increase in temperature on reliability, even though the team's new car has had comparatively less running to the rest of the field.
"We completed the tests with one set of car parts, including using the same gearbox, so we have a good reliability record," Coughlan summed up.
Just under 12 months ago, Maldonado and then team-mate Bruno Senna both retired in Australia, having demonstrated encouraging pace throughout the weekend.
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Mike Coughlan
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