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Williams will focus on 2011 after Singapore

ESPNF1 Staff
September 14, 2010 « Brawn GP made £98.5 million in 2009 | »
The FW32 will have one more update at Singapore © Getty Images
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Williams is throwing its weight behind one last major upgrade for the FW32 before it shifts its full focus towards 2011.

The team is currently seventh in the constructors' championship, 11 points off sixth-place Force India and 20 ahead of Sauber. Since the European Grand Prix, Williams has made significant progress with its car and scored 29 of its 47 points, with a season's best result of fourth in Valencia.

At the centre of the improved performance has been the successful introduction of a blown diffuser. Technical director Sam Michael revealed there is now just one major upgrade still to come at the next round in under two week's time.

"We have a large upgrade for the FW32 for Singapore," he said. "It will be the last upgrade package we will bring to the car this season and we expect it to be competitive."

While the focus on chassis development is set switch to 2011, the team has yet to confirm its drivers for next year. Rubens Barrichello claimed on Tuesday that an official announcement is being held off while the team makes a decision on Nico Hulkenberg.

Hulkenberg is 15 points behind his team-mate, but at the last three races has outperformed Barrichello with a sixth place finish in Hungary and seventh place at Monza. Michael believes the Italian Grand Prix was the German's best performance in his rookie year.

"Nico finished sixth in Budapest, but he was consistently strong throughout the whole weekend in Monza," said Michael. "I would say that his overall performance [in Italy] was his best to date."

Michael revealed that Barrichello was running an old engine at Monza while Hulkenberg took a new Cosworth V8.

"Nico had a new engine, but Rubens had the same one as he used in Spa," he said. "It is obviously a significant benefit to have a new engine, and particularly when we're racing at these power-hungry circuits.

He added: "Rubens' car was handling similarly to Nico's. Although he didn't have the same pace as Nico over the weekend, he still scored an important point for the team."

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