Testing work boosts Williams for Imola

The British team has shown inconsistent form over the opening three races of the season, with a variety of problems blunting the team's challenge against McLaren and Ferrari.

"The most recent test at Le Castellet [at the Paul Ricard circuit] has taken us another step forward," said Ralf Schumacher. "Improvements in testing are important, as the aim is now not only to beat Ferrari, but also prevent McLaren from opening up a lead."

The temperature at Imola this weekend is likely to be considerably cooler than in Brazil, which traditionally gives Bridgestone;s tyres an advantage over those of rival Michelin, who supply Williams.

Juan Pablo Montoya, however, remains confident. "Michelin tyres have considerably improved for cold conditions. I think the FW25 should work okay at Imola and we might be able to make up for the mixture of bad luck, difficult circumstances and mistakes that have not got us off to the best start this season."

Sam Michael, Williams' chief operations engineer, said: "We have been conducting a lot of tyre testing to improve our position relative to the competition, using the pre-season Imola test as a baseline. It will be interesting to see how far we have progressed."