Williams Formula 1 drivers Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi admit the new bigger tyres highlight how visibility is “worse” in the 2022 cars.
Following the unveiling of its all-new livery on Tuesday, the pair conducted a shakedown of the FW44 at Silverstone ahead of next week’s first pre-season test in Barcelona.
Having gathered some valuable running in the new car, both drivers voiced their concerns that visibility has been restricted further by the new 18-inch tyres and wheel deflectors.
Speaking after his first taste of Williams’ 2022 challenger, Latifi said, as quoted by Motorsport.com: “The visibility, it definitely is worse in some corners. I guess it just depends on the kind of corner, how much you are steering into the corner and where your gaze is going.
“I think that’ll just be something that everyone has to get used to. But there are definitely instances where you do see less for sure.”
Albon, who returns to a full-time race seat this year after sitting out 2021, believes the issue could escalate further when running on street circuits such as Monaco.
“Today, we had kind of the worst of it with a dark, gloomy, wet day at Silverstone, but it wasn’t too bad,” Albon explained.
“I think we’re going to struggle more when we go to street tracks. When we come towards Monaco, Baku Jeddah, that’s going to be the tricky ones.
“On open tracks, you can see far ahead of you. With the blind spots of the tyre and all the deflectors, it takes away a lot of that immediate view as you’re looking into the corner.
“So what you end up doing is you’re looking actually further around the corner.
“However, on a street track, obviously past a wall, there’s only more wall, so you can’t see much around it. I think that’s going to be the tricky one.
“And also combat driving, I think, that’s also going to be something a little bit trickier to see where you are, where the front wing is and where your tyres are. That might be a little bit more tricky.”
While Latifi conceded he was “nowhere near the limits” to gain a greater understanding of the FW44, he felt he could already tell the new generation of cars are “very different” to last year.
“It was really tricky to get any kind of proper feeling of the car but it definitely feels very different to the last year for sure,” Latifi said. “It feels like you’re driving a heavier car.
“But beyond that, I was nowhere near the limits. We’re kind of just making sure everything’s running, making sure the seat’s comfortable and any little adjustments you want to make on that.
“So besides that, I’m not really picking and reading too much into anything else that I felt.”
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