Williams drivers say Alex Wurz's role as driver mentor will help improve their performances

Wurz, a veteran of 69 grands prix for Benetton, McLaren and Williams, attended last week's Barcelona test in his new capacity and both drivers believe that he will help to improve their performance.

"It is a positive thing because there is one more driver in the team looking from the outside," said Maldonado.

"It's not always easy to look at everything from inside the cockpit and Alex is so experienced that he can help us to improve our performance."

Senna also backed Wurz's arrival and plans to do as much as he can to learn from the 38-year-old.

"Alex is a great addition to the team," said Senna. "He has been around long enough to know things that we can benefit from. I'll try to use him as much as possible."

Williams chief operations engineer Mark Gillan, who worked with Wurz at McLaren, is confident that the decision to appoint a driver coach will be of benefit to the team.

He hailed Wurz's influence on the drivers in Barcelona testing, adding that the two-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner is ideally suited to the role.

"He's one of the drivers who I would feel comfortable with bringing in in this particular role," said Gillian.

"He has settled in very well and it has been an easy introduction. He is already bringing good insight and knowledge [to the drivers]."

Read Alex Wurz's thoughts on his new role, how F1 has been slow to embrace driver coaching and exactly what he can do for the team's drivers.