- Austrian GP
Williams' focus not on Rosberg in Austria
Williams engineer Rob Smedley says his team's focus is not on beating Nico Rosberg at the Austrian Grand Prix, but finishing ahead of its closest rivals in the championship.
Williams locked out the front row in Austria after both Mercedes failed to realise their potential in the final session of qualifying, but Rosberg is starting just behind Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas in third. Williams is currently sixth in the constructors' championship after several missed opportunities for big points hauls this year, and Smedley said the focus would be on taking points off the likes of McLaren and Force India, who are ahead of his team in the standings.
"Our aim [in the race] - not to be pessimistic - is not Nico Rosberg," he said. "It's the teams we are competing directly with in the championship and that's what we set out to do.
"Mercedes are by far and away the leaders at the minute, Red Bull are sat in no-man's land - and I don't know how well they will go here - and then there's a group of cars from third to sixth in the championship where it's all open, and they are the teams we have to prioritise and score against tomorrow [Sunday].
"What are our priorities going into the race? It's to score more points than those teams and either move closer to them or move further away from them in championship."
However, Smedley played down suggestions from Nico Rosberg that the Williams was set up to be quick over one lap and will struggle in the race.
"I don't believe for a minute that we have compromised the race, if anything according to what we know, we have probably helped it a little bit. But we know that we do sometimes suffer with degradation or graining, as other teams do, and we just have to try and get on top of that in the race tomorrow, which is going to be hot."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
