Williams out of final F1 test day by crash damage

Williams has been forced to end its running at the first pre-season test as a result of crash damage suffered by Lance Stroll on Wednesday.

Stroll lost control on cold tires exiting Turn 5 late in the third day, damaging the front left corner of the car as he hit the barrier on the inside of the circuit. Head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley admitted on Wednesday evening the team was in danger of missing out on the final day as a result of the damage, and Williams confirmed on Thursday morning it needs to repair the chassis.

"Following a thorough inspection overnight, some damage to the FW40 chassis was discovered and therefore, on safety grounds, the team will not run the car today," Williams said in a team statement. "A second chassis will be prepared at track this afternoon, as originally planned, with the team aiming to be back on track for the second test next week starting on Tuesday 7 March."

As a result of the lack of running, Williams ends the opening test with 213 laps to its name. While Felipe Massa completed 113 laps on the opening day and Stroll managed 98 before crashing on Wednesday, the Canadian's running was ended after just 12 laps on day two due to a spin that damaged the front wing.

Speaking before Williams announced it would not run again until the second test, Smedley said Stroll was not being blamed by the team for the incident on Wednesday.

"He shouldn't feel he has let them down, otherwise we are living in some kind of terrible blame culture and we don't want that," Smedley said. "Everybody – I wouldn't even call it a mistake that Lance made. He was going for an upshift, he was on cold tires, Felipe once or twice on day one made almost exactly the same mistake – and that is a guy with 15 years experience.

"It is for us to understand how to rebalance the car, how to get the tire working, even in tricky situations on those cold laps to help the drivers in those situations. Nobody stands back and says that is your bit and you are to blame for it – absolutely not. There is no blame to apportion here at all, the main focus as usual is how did it happen, how do we stop it happening again and how do we contain the actions going forward."

The final day of the first test started with wet tire testing for Pirelli, but the tire manufacturer changed its schedule and opted against watering the track after the start of the session, allowing dry running to take place before the lunch break. The track was watered again during the hour-long break for further wet testing.