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Williams launches FW34 ahead of first day of testing

The Williams FW34 was rolled out of the garage on Tuesday morning © ESPNF1

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• Drivers:
• Pastor Maldonado
• |
• Bruno Senna

• Teams:
• Williams

Williams has launched its 2012 car, the FW34, in the Jerez pit lane ahead of the first day of testing.

It was a no-frills affair as the car was rolled out of the garage accompanied by the team's drivers Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna. The FW34 features a stepped nose much like the other cars launched at Jerez this week and a tightly-packaged rear similar to last year's FW33.

However, Williams will be hoping for a much more competitive package in 2012 and the FW34 is the first car to be produced by its new technical team led by Mike Coughlan and Mark Gillan. It is also the first Williams since Jacques Villeneuve's championship-winning FW19 to run with a Renault-badged engine.

"One could say that looking at the Williams F1 Team today we are off to a truly fresh start," team principal Sir Frank Williams said. "We have a new car, new driver line up, new engine and new senior personnel. We also have a number of new partners who have joined the team in the past few months. I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome them formally and sincerely wish that they have an enjoyable and, most importantly, a valuable experience with us. The team has had a good winter at the factory and we feel ready and strong for the fight."

Chief operations engineer Gillan added: "We are really looking forward to this season and from a personal perspective I can't wait to get the FW34 on to the race track. The factory has worked extremely hard over the winter to ensure that the car met its design, build and rig test targets and we start testing with the car prepared to a high standard. We've worked in close co-operation with all of our partners to achieve that, including Renault Sport F1. In the run-up to Australia, we will be working hard with our exciting new driver line-up to ensure that we maximise and unlock the full potential of the FW34. It is imperative that we demonstrate a continuous improvement in our performance and deliver results throughout the season."

The new Williams was rolled out in front of the waiting press just 20 minutes before the start of testing when Maldonado took to the track. The Venezuelan will remain in the car on Wednesday before handing it over to Senna for the final two days of the test.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.