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Williams Technical Director would rather conduct all pre-season testing in Barcelona

Grove team considered missing Jerez test altogether

Williams Technical Director Mike Coughlan has revealed the team would have launched their new car a fortnight ago had the first pre-season test been held at Barcelona and not Jerez.

When asked to sum up Williams' objective for the coming season, Coughlan stated: "To deliver on our potential, which we didn't do last year." Although Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya, and Williams were very quick on occasion elsewhere, their speed was tempered by woeful inconsistency. In the end, they could only finish eighth in the Constructors' Championship. "You might argue that we ended the year faster than Mercedes. We had many races where we were faster than Lotus," Coughlan asserted. "We try and avoid predictions because there's a lot of things we have to try and understand. "Last year, we had several opportunities we didn't close out, I think ultimately as a team. Including the drivers, what we need to do is focus on maximising our performance and delivering on it when we can."

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