The Cosworth powered WilliamsF1 team returned to action on Tuesday when new driver Nico Rosberg took to the Catalunya circuit in Spain along with Andy Priaulx who was undergoing further testing for the grove based squad.

Day one of the test marked the start of two new collaborations for the team, with new engine supplier Cosworth and new tyre supplier, Bridgestone and overall it was a pleasing start to winter testing and a testament to how hard the team has worked over the short six week break since the end of the 2005 season. 

"Today was the first test with our new technical partners, Cosworth and Bridgestone,” said Sam Michael. “Nico and Andy were on driving duties and the cars were on different programs to get through initial systems setup as efficiently as possible. Nico was able to complete normal timed lap running early on and by the end of afternoon, we were able to perform a short tyre program for Bridgestone. Andy spent the whole day on systems checks, installation laps and calibration work and in order to complete some precautionary checks, we stopped Andy's car early."

"It's a credit to all the staff at Grove and Northampton that in such a short amount of time we were able to design, build and arrive at the start of this test with two complete interim cars. This involved extensive chassis modifications, new engine and new gearbox installation and the entire electrical system design.”

On Wednesday the team will continue with systems work with Nico, while Mark Webber will take over from Andy in the second car.

“We should also be able to start work on setup changes and further tyre testing for Bridgestone," Michael concluded.