Former champions Williams expect their 2008 Formula One car to be a big step up from last year's already improved FW29 after giving it a track debut in Spain today.

Technical director Sam Michael said in a statement that the team's focus was on performance after finishing fourth overall in the constructors' standings last season. The previous season they had been eighth.

"With a good reliability record last year, we have been able to build on this quality while also turning some of our attention to clear performance objectives," said Michael. "We are designing a tidier car with a higher standard of build quality.

"The FW30 should represent a good step forward when all of the many small areas of attention and improvement are brought together in the overall package," he added.

Williams took 33 points last season, 20 more than engine partners Toyota managed with their own factory team, and finished on the podium with Austrian Alexander Wurz's surprise third place in Canada.

They would have been fifth overall had McLaren not been stripped of all their points for a spying controversy involving leaked Ferrari data.

New German test driver Nico Hulkenberg gave the car its shakedown at the Valencia circuit on Monday before regular race drivers Nico Rosberg of Germany and Japanese rookie Kazuki Nakajima begin testing from tomorrow.

Williams will be testing with a variety of liveries in the run-up to the first race in Australia on March 16 as they celebrate their 30 years in Formula One.

The car rolled out on Monday carried the names of all the current 519 team employees as well as the 85 brands and sponsors who have been on the Williams cars over the years since the Argentine Grand Prix of January 1978.

Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso also gave Renault's new car its track debut in Valencia today.