Williams targeting points

The Grove-based team enter 2012 having endured the worst season in their history, scoring a total of just five points and finishing ninth in the contructors' championship last year.

They have fallen a long way from the outfit that won a total of nine world titles and with finances also a consideration, the decision to field a relatively inexperienced line-up in Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna hardly suggests a team looking to make a significant statement of intent.

Yet Williams have undertaken a shake-up of their technical department and with a new Renault engine deal also in place, they appear upbeat about their new FW34 chassis.

Gillan has confirmed the FW34 passed all the necessary crash tests before Christmas, leaving the team with plenty of time to fine tune. This is in contrast to Ferrari, whose 2012 chassis is reported to have only passed the tests on the second attempt.

Gillan added that work for the new campaign "is going well" and "the general performance trends look very encouraging" and has boldly predicted the team will have a consistent presence in the top ten this season.

Not easy

"I know that the great leap forward is not easy," he explained.

"But, from what we know so far from the car, there is reason to be reasonably confident that we can regularly be in Q3 and can score some points."

Part of the reason for Gillan's upbeat message is his belief that the ban on blown diffusers will to an extent level the playing field this season.

"It neutralizes the lead that had some of the teams had developed in this area," he added.

"The field should as a result be closer - at least at the beginning of the season. But it is only a matter of time before someone comes up with the next F-duct or double diffuser."

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