Spanish GP: Williams has 'plan B' if car upgrades don't work
Pastor Maldonado insists that Williams has a 'plan B' should the major upgrade package it will trial in Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix not perform as expected


Williams has endured a poor start to the 2013 Formula 1 season and has yet to score a point heading into a race that it won last year.
But despite being confident that the new parts, which Williams has successfully tested during two days of straightline running at the Idiada facility in Spain since the Bahrain Grand Prix, will work, Maldonado does not see this upgrade as make or break for his campaign.
"It's still early," said Maldonado when asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt how Friday goes will define the course of the rest of the season for Williams.
"We need to improve the car but if it is not in this race, we still have some more races to do that.
"If everything works this time, we have the clear direction.
"If, for any reason, the car will not work we have a plan B, so let's see."
Maldonado is upbeat about the new aerodynamic package, which he hopes will make a car he has described as "undriveable" significantly more competitive.
He believes that the priority is for Williams to ensure that the correlation between what it is seeing in the windtunnel and how the car performs on track, which the team has made progress with, is as strong as possible.
"We have done a new aero kit for this race," said Maldonado.
"Hopefully, it should work and we have an extensive programme in terms of development for the car.
"What we have [for practice] is not everything for the car, we made a step and we need more steps.
"It's clear now we have done a real comparison between track and windtunnel and it's clear where the problems are."
While Maldonado has been critical of the car, he remains certain of its ultimate potential.
"The potential of the car is there, the pace of the car is [potentially relatively similar] to last year's car as there are not any big changes.
"We got lost for many reasons but we have good data, good drivers, a good team so there is no reason to be where we have been in the previous four races."

Sergio Perez says he and Jenson Button respect each other more now
Spanish GP: Fernando Alonso says Ferrari can attack in his home race

Latest news
Inside the Faenza facility where AlphaTauri’s F1 pragmatic vision is realised
AlphaTauri’s mission in F1 is to sell clothes and train young drivers rather than win the championship – but you still need a cutting-edge factory to do that. Team boss Franz Tost takes GP Racing’s OLEG KARPOV on a guided tour of a facility that’s continuing to grow
Connecting two of Ferrari's favourite F1 sons
Gilles Villeneuve's exploits behind the wheel of a Ferrari made him a legend to the tifosi, even 40 years after his death. The team's current Formula 1 star Charles Leclerc enjoys a similar status, and recently got behind the wheel of a very special car from the French-Canadian’s career
How a 30cm metal wire triggered open warfare in the F1 paddock
Porpoising has become the key talking point during the 2022 Formula 1 season, as teams battle to come to terms with it. An FIA technical directive ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix and a second stay appearing on the Mercedes cars only served to create a bigger debate and raise tensions further
Does Verstappen have any weaknesses left?
Having extended his Formula 1 points lead with victory in Canada, Max Verstappen has raised his game further following his 2021 title triumph. Even on the days where Red Bull appears to be second best to Ferrari, Verstappen is getting the most out of the car in each race. So, does he have any weaknesses that his title rivals can exploit?
How F1's future fuels can shape the automotive sector
In 2026, Formula 1 plans to make the switch to a fully sustainable fuel, as the greater automotive world considers its own alternative propulsion methods. Biogasoline and e-fuels both have merit as 'drop-in' fuels but, equally, both have their shortcomings...
The breakthrough behind Sainz’s best weekend of F1 2022 so far
OPINION: Carlos Sainz came close to winning in Monaco but needed that race’s specific circumstances for his shot at a maiden Formula 1 victory to appear. Last weekend in Canada, he led the line for Ferrari in Charles Leclerc’s absence from the front. And there’s a key reason why Sainz has turned his 2022 form around
Canadian Grand Prix Driver Ratings 2022
Plenty of high scores but just a single perfect 10 from the first Montreal race in three years, as Max Verstappen fended off late pressure from Carlos Sainz. Here’s Autosport’s assessment on the Formula 1 drivers from the Canadian Grand Prix
Why “faster” Ferrari couldn’t beat Red Bull in Canadian GP
On paper the Canadian Grand Prix will go down as Max Verstappen’s latest triumph, fending off late pressure from Carlos Sainz to extend his Formula 1 world championship lead. But as safety car periods, virtual and real, shook up the race Ferrari demonstrated it can take the fight to Red Bull after recent failures