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Williams to debut car at first test

ESPNF1 Staff
January 11, 2011 « Trulli thinking of life after F1 | »
Rubens Barrichello will put the first miles on the Williams FW33 © Sutton Images
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Williams will debut its 2011 car at the first day of testing in Valencia with Rubens Barrichello at the wheel.

A spokeswoman for the team told Dutch website f1today.nl that Pastor Maldonado will get his first taste of the FW33 half-way through the second day, as the pair equally share all the pre-season testing. She also said Williams has not decided whether the February 1 debut will coincide with a conventional "launch" this year.

"The FW33 will be in action at the first test in Valencia," she said.

The team's engineering boss and co-owner Patrick Head wrote in his new column for Motorsport magazine that the 2011 car is "more adventurous" than last year's.

"Rubens told the media that he thought the car looked radical, but I think it is just more adventurous than our 2010 car, and to move upwards in team order, it will need to be," Head added.

He admitted it is "unfortunate" Nico Hulkenberg was not retained for 2011 and thinks the young German "deserves a seat on merit". He insists that Venezuelan Maldonado, who in 2010 succeeded Hulkenberg as the new GP2 champion and "comes with some financial support", also "deserves" the seat.

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