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Maldonado confident upgrades are working

Pastor Maldonado: "I think we're going to improve but the car is looking good" © Sutton Images

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• Pastor Maldonado

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Pastor Maldonado says Williams will work on its long run pace at the remaining two days of testing, but is confident ahead of the season-opener at Melbourne.

Williams languished at the bottom of the timesheets on Friday as the team had an engine problem in the morning and shifted its focus to pit stop practice. However, Maldonado is confident the new car will be fighting in the midfield at the first race and that the upgrades on the car are working.

"The parts are still arriving here," he said. "I think we're going to improve but the car is looking good. We need to improve a little the pace on the long runs, but we are not so far [off our target]. I think at this moment all the teams are very close and it's difficult to predict because we don't know exactly what the other teams are testing.

"I feel confident. We need to work hard, concentrate and keep pushing. The first race is always difficult and the track is difficult for setup. But it will be a long season and we will see."

Maldonado, who handed the car over to team-mate Bruno Senna at lunch time, said the engine problem in the morning was not a big deal.

"Today was a pit-stop test so we didn't lose some important time," he added. "We got to the bottom of the problem and that's important. It was a bit of a boring day, but anyway the pit stops are getting better and better and more consistent. That's important because we are close to the start of the season and we need to be strong on all fronts."

He wouldn't reveal Williams target for the first race but he did say there were three cars looking particularly good to him on track.

"Red Bull looks pretty good, Mercedes as well and McLaren too. But it's difficult to say because at that moment I don't know what they were testing."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.