Williams Test at Revised Estoril

Williams tested at the recently refurbished Estoril track in Portugal yesterday.

This is the first Formula One test at the circuit by any team in over three years, and the first in its significantly modified state. Jenson Button's first day on the track saw him set a best time of 1:23.727 during his 54 laps of the circuit. Button said: "This morning the track was obviously very slippery and really dusty off line - this is a problem which we will sort out. It is a fairly slow circuit and also quite bumpy but all in all I think it’s pretty good. On the exit of most of the corners it’s going off cambers and this is causing quite a bit of wheelspin. With a few changes it would be good to see a Formula One race here."

Tim Preston, Jenson Button's race engineer also commented on the circuit, saying: "The circuit seems reasonably good although at the moment it’s quite dirty. It was becoming cleaner throughout the day, improving with each lap that we did. The improvements of the circuit are quite good although the first two corners are obviously quite a lot slower now. From the operation point of view the pits are much better and the pit lane and the pit lane exit have improved. There are of course a few problems - being a new circuit there is a lot of dirt and grass on the infield and by the kerbs so if you put a wheel off track then it kicks up a lot of dirt."