Former world champions Williams hope their new FW38 Formula One car, presented online yesterday, will address last year’s problems and be quicker on the slower tracks and in wet conditions.

“The FW37 was a pretty effective car and so we concentrated on understanding the areas where we could improve it without losing the attributes which made it effective,” said engineering head Pat Symonds in an interview conducted by the team.

“It is no secret that the low speed performance of the FW37 didn’t match its high speed performance so a lot of time was spent looking into why this was and subsequently making changes, which we hope will im-prove the situation.”

Williams finished third overall last year in the constructors’ championship for the second season in a row but again failed to win a race.

The British-based team, whose last World Championship title was with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997, have not won a grand prix since Pastor Maldonado triumphed in Spain in 2012.

With veteran Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, Williams took four podium finishes in 2015.

Team founder and principal Frank Williams said retaining third place would be a challenge but the aim was to return to the ranks of race winners.

“We will have to wait until Melbourne to find out exactly where we stand in the pecking order but I’m confident that our hard work over the winter will stand us in good stead,” said Williams.

The season, with a record 21 races scheduled, starts in Australia on March 20.

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