New Williams FW35 passes final crash test

Williams ran its 2012 machine in last week's first pre-season test at Jerez after deciding not to use the new car there in order to focus on evaluating the 2013 Pirelli tyres.

But after passing the final nose test as scheduled last Thursday, the new car will be able to hit the track on February 19.

At Jerez last week, Pastor Maldonado told AUTOSPORT that he was confident about the new machine.

"It's a step," said Maldonado. "We try to look at every single component, everything.

"But all the cars look very similar to last year because the rules are the same.

"It's a small improvement all round the car and we are quite confident that it will be very competitive this year, even better than the previous one."

2013 pre-season dates

Car launches

Team          Date 
Lotus         January 28 
McLaren       January 31 
Ferrari       February 1 
Force India   February 1
Sauber        February 2
Red Bull      February 3 
Mercedes      February 4 
Toro Rosso    February 4 
Caterham      February 5
Marussia      February 5

Williams      February 19

Testing

Venue         Date 
Jerez         5-8 February 
Barcelona     19-22 February 
Barcelona     28 February-3 March