Williams F1 team makes breakthrough on low-speed circuits
The pace Williams showed in the Singapore Grand Prix proves it has made a breakthrough on low-speed Formula 1 circuits, says its performance chief Rob Smedley

Valtteri Bottas finished fifth while Felipe Massa was on course for points before picking up a puncture from a collision with Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and later retiring with a gearbox problem.
Williams has suffered a tendency to understeer heavily at low speed and as a result it struggled in Monaco and Hungary earlier this season.
But Smedley said that having worked hard since Monaco to find solutions, the team has recently arrived at conclusions of that work.
"We have made great inroads over this last period of time in terms of dragging pace out of it around a circuit like this," said Smedley.
"We have done a great deal of work on that, it's been constant since Monaco, on that.
"Getting the car to work in certain conditions was a bit of a problem for us.
"We were really just in the last weeks arriving at the conclusions of that work and how we could make it better.
"We found we could make some of it better with the car set-up itself like we have done this weekend while some of it will have to come from the drawing board or the science textbooks.
"Certainly, we have done a really good job in getting the car working round here.
"It's not perfect, but we have made a good step forward.
"Going back to Hungary, even with the same car, on basis of this weekend you can see we would have done a lot better on that type of circuit."
Bottas agreed that Williams has made some progress with the weaknesses of the car.
"We know better how to operate the car on these type of tracks and how you approach the set-up of the car," he said.
"We've made progress but we haven't definitely sorted it out because we saw how close we were to the Ferrari in Monza and on this type of track they are so far ahead.
"I'm sure there's still plenty of things we can do better."

McLaren-Honda's F1 form is starting to hurt, says Jenson Button
Manor braced for emotional Suzuka amid Jules Bianchi memories

Latest news
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
How do the best races of F1 2022 stack up to 2021?
OPINION: A system to score all the grands prix from the past two seasons produces some interesting results and sets a standard that 2023 should surely exceed
Who were the fastest drivers in F1 2022?
Who was the fastest driver in 2022? Everyone has an opinion, but what does the stopwatch say? Obviously, differing car performance has an effect on ultimate laptime – but it’s the relative speed of each car/driver package that’s fascinating and enlightening says ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Why F1's nearly man is refreshed and ready for his return
He has more starts without a podium than anyone else in Formula 1 world championship history, but Nico Hulkenberg is back for one more shot with Haas. After spending three years on the sidelines, the revitalised German is aiming to prove to his new team what the F1 grid has been missing
The potential-laden F1 car that Ferrari neglected
The late Mauro Forghieri played a key role in Ferrari’s mid-1960s turnaround, says STUART CODLING, and his pretty, intricate 1512 was among the most evocative cars of the 1.5-litre era. But a victim of priorities as Formula 1 was deemed less lucrative than success in sportscars, its true potential was never seen in period
Why Vasseur relishes 'feeling the pressure' as Ferrari's F1 boss
OPINION: Fred Vasseur has spent only a few weeks as team principal for the Ferrari Formula 1 team, but is already intent on taking the Scuderia back to the very top. And despite it being arguably the most demanding job in motorsport, the Frenchman is relishing the challenge
The crucial tech changes F1 teams must adapt to in 2023
Changes to the regulations for season two of Formula 1's ground-effects era aim to smooth out last year’s troubles and shut down loopholes. But what areas have been targeted, and what impact will this have?
Are these the 50 quickest drivers in F1 history?
Who are the quickest drivers in Formula 1 history? LUKE SMITH asked a jury of experienced and international panel of experts and F1 insiders. Some of them have worked closely with F1’s fastest-ever drivers – so who better to vote on our all-time top 50? We’re talking all-out speed here rather than size of trophy cabinet, so the results may surprise you…
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.