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Williams: 2016 a 'wake-up call'

Williams Martini Racing knows what it needs to do to improve in F1 2017, deputy team principal Claire Williams has said.

Williams endured a difficult season and having finished third in the Constructors' Championship in 2014 and 2015, slipped to fifth this year, soundly beaten by Force India - with 35 points the difference.

Quizzed on the performance this year, she conceded it wasn't good enough, but added they have a plan for next year and will "keep moving forward", although she was speaking prior to Mercedes' bid to land Valtteri Bottas and prior to confirmation the team may be willing to release him, something that won't exactly help them in 2017.

"Everybody knows and everyone will recall when we made our big restructuring process in 2013-14 we weren't going to tolerate a downward trend in performance anymore. We've had a couple of really good years and this year has been a wake-up call," she said.

"It is very clear to us where our strengths and weaknesses are and we will continue to try to address those. It isn't rocket science to know if you don't fix a problem you are not going to do better next time.

"We know where those weaknesses are and we have a plan to fix them for next year. We will see the benefits of those resolutions next year and keep moving forward."

Pressed on if she has confidence in the team's facilities and in its personnel, she replied: "I'm not going into detail to whether I think we do because that is not fair and I don't believe talking about your problems in great details, we know we have them and how to fix them, but it is not to discuss."

Meanwhile, she conceded that being beaten by Force India was a big blow: "It hurts, it is not where want to be and we are addressing the issue but we are doing it behind the scenes."

As for when the results will be seen, she added: "Hopefully in next year's car. But when you try and fix anything it will take time.

"Next year's car we started working on it in February and March this year. With any changes it is going to take some time to come to fruition." 

Zdroj: crash.net