Hungarian GP update to boost Williams F1 team

The Grove-based outfit has moved up to third place in the F1 title chase on the back of three consecutive podium finishes, and has now set its sights on beating Red Bull for runner-up spot behind Mercedes.

Although the high-downforce nature of the Hungaroring is not expected to be best suited to the Williams package, the team has worked on development steps to specifically address its weaknesses.

Rob Smedley, Williams's performance chief, said that the improvements should allow Williams to keep up its strong form ahead of the summer break.

"If you want to say what suits us or doesn't suit us, you could say Germany would not suit us, but we came out of there with a good car and a good result," he explained.

"We identified what sort of improvement we would need to make to keep it competitive in Budapest and up to now we have met all the development targets that we are going to get on the car.

"It will improve the car and will be very specific for Budapest, so I believe that we will go there and be able to maintain a decent pace in the car."

Williams is 67 points behind Red Bull in the championship, and its straightline speed advantage is likely to pay dividends at the tracks after the summer break such as Spa and Monza.

When asked if beating Red Bull was realistic, Smedley said: "I think that should be our target.

"With both cars, how good the car is at the minute, how quick it is, and the development we have got coming through which is mightily impressive, a good step coming for Budapest, going to Spa and Monza which are two circuits that will definitely suit the car, then why not? We don't have to stop.

"The ambition for this team is to win the world championship eventually and that means you have got to beat teams like Ferrari, you have to beat teams like Red Bull, you have to beat teams like Mercedes.

"They are all targets and we will be going after them all."