George Russell has conceded that Williams is currently bringing up the rear of the Formula 1 field in terms of pace, with just one day of testing remaining.
Williams finished at the back of the field in 2018, with just two points finishes, and suffered a delayed start to pre-season testing in 2019 due to setbacks in readying its FW42.
Williams has managed to rack up substantial mileage this week in its bid to play catch-up, completing the third-most laps, but has been towards the bottom of the timesheets.
“I’d be lying if I said we were not the slowest at the moment, that is a reality,” said Russell.
“It is clear we have some work to do, but was very positive is that we made a big step from when I jumped into the car definitely on Tuesday, we made a step since Robert [Kubica] was in the car yesterday.
“Hopefully when he jumps in again tomorrow, we will find another step.
“We understand the issues, we recognise that, and we are doing everything we can to rectify it.
“I’m definitely very happy with the number of laps we’ve done but we have not been able to do lap times, we still have a bit to find with them … we were up there but we’ve got work to do.
“We were a big step behind everybody else.”
The next time Russell will step into Williams’ FW42 will be at the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time.
“I think I need to step back and pinch myself and realise I am in F1 and I will be making my debut, but at the end of the day my goal is to be in F1 for many years to come,” he said.
“If I step back and relax too much I might be kicked out of the door. So my goal at the moment is to work with the team to try and push this car and get everything out of it.”
