The last few days have been very intense for all the teams on the grid. In fact, each team presented its single-seater for the 2023 season and, above all, tried to put it on the track on the few occasions allowed by the regulations to make a shakedown before the eagerly awaited trip to Bahrain, where the three-day pre-season test will take place from 23 to 25 February. The teams’ main ally, in an era of limited private tests, are the filming days. 100 km formally used for making commercial films but which the engineers use, particularly at the beginning of the year, to check that everything works on the single-seater.
These days, especially for the back-of-the-grid teams that have fewer resources available, can prove to be crucial but also very problematic if something goes wrong. For this the 2009 world champion, Jenson Buttontoday busy with the role of consultant for the team Williams, he said he breathed a big sigh of relief witnessing the shakedown of the new one FW45. The historic English team, which finished last in the Constructors’ standings last year, tested the new single-seater on their home circuit of Silverstone and fortunately there were no technical hitches. Recounting the day, however, Button confessed his nervousness.
“The first outing on the track is certainly an exciting day, but also a bit unnerving – said the British driver, who made his debut in Formula 1 with Williams in 2000 – the team has been developing this car for a long time and worked hard to ensure that everything was ready for this day. Before arriving at Silverstone you always look at the weather report, you see forecasts of 12°C and you think everything will be fine. Then you get there and it feels like -12°C“. Despite the cold, however, the first test of the FW45 passed with flying colors. “Every year, every team, both at the top and bottom of the grid, hangs in the balance and hopes that all goes well on the first day a new car hits the track. We not only succeeded, but We even had a full day of testing with no issues“concluded Button.
#Shakedown #Williams #Button #sighs #relief #FormulaPassion.it