Berger 'Not Satisfied' with New FW24

BMW motorsport boss Gerhard Berger has revealed that the Williams team are not satisfied with the speed of their new FW24 car.

The Grove-based squad finished in third place in last year's Constructors' Championship after scoring four wins thanks to German Ralf Schumacher and Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, and are tipped to be one of the favourites to fight for the title this season.

However the new BMW-powered machine, which was unveiled on January 25, has not been up to the team's expectations after the first pre-season testing sessions at the Barcelona and Valencia circuits, according to Berger.

"It is true that after the first tests the new car did not produce the lap times we were expecting," Berger told Autocar magazine. "I always regard the speed of a new car on its first outing as a very important sign.

"And, even taking into account the need to make chassis set-up changes, we are not satisfied.

"I don't like to separate the chassis from the power unit. We are talking about a whole package here, but it looks like McLaren are ahead of us."

Williams have been working on an intensive testing programme since the start of the year, running three cars in most of the tests they have taken part in.