Lenovo, one of Williams’ sponsors, have announced that they have successfully installed a new supercomputer at the team’s headquarters for use in the team’s windtunnel.

The new supercomputer has a peak performance of eight teraflops – this means that at it’s very quickest, it achieves 8 x 10^12 calculations per second – and is four times more powerful than the previous computer Williams had.

Sam Michael, WilliamsF1 Technical Director, was fined after being late for an official FIA press conference on Friday. Michael arrived some 7 minutes late, picking up a fine of €5000 Euros.

While Michael, along with other senior members of the pitlane questioned the punishment, the FIA cited their warning on Thursday after Toyota’s Ralf Schumacher and William’s Alexander Wurz arrived late for the pre-event press conference in Canada.

Williams have announced that they will be renewing and extending their current partnership with RBS.

Frank Williams, boss of the Williams F1 team, said, “Williams is very privileged that our partnership with a brand of RBS’s stature has been extended. It is a fruitful relationship that has developed and strengthened over the last two seasons and I look forward to it continuing successfully.”

Williams Technical Director Sam Michael has stated hs is encouraged by the improving form of their FW29 car. Reliability seems to be the small concern for the Williams team with Rosberg having to retire from the Malaysian Grand Prix having qualified in sixth, and Alex Wurz suffering from gearbox troubles.

It is believed that Williams have signed a new sponsorship deal with AirAsia for the next three years, although no official announcements have been made. It is believed that the official confirmation will be unveiled on Thursday, and the FW29s will include the AirAsia logos on their nose cones.

Nico Rosberg topped the timesheets for the second day in his Williams with a best time of 1:21.231, just under a tenth quicker than his teammate, Alex Wurz. Between them, they notched up 220 laps of the Barcelona circuit, with Rosberg working on mapping and set-ups, and Wurz concentrating on longer runs and race simulations. Rosberg will sit out the third day of testing, and Wurz will instead be joned on track by test driver Kazuki Nakajima.

Two ex-Williams drivers, David Coulthard and Mark Webber, are leading the assault on the new tyre regulations that will force drivers to use two different tyres specs in each race. “There’s not exactly going to be a great deal of suspense,” Coulthard has been quoted as saying, speculating that there won’t be much overtaking towards the end of each race because drivers will run the fastest spec at the start of the race.

Although no official announcements have been made, it is understood that Chinese computer company Lenovo have signed a sponsorship deal with Williams for the 2007 season. It is thought that the Lenovo logo will appear on the sidepods and rear wing of the new FW29 car.

Narain Karthikeyan, test driver for the Williams team, will represent his country in A1GP for the NZ races this weekend. Karthikeyan, who turned 30 on Sunday, is said to be honoured to drive for A1 Team India.

“I’m very proud to drive for my country in A1GP,” said the former Jordan driver. 

Alex Wurz has defended Williams’ decision to switch to Toyota engines for 2007. Wurz, a former test driver who returns to racing next season, has already run several hundred test kilometres with the new engine. “I think Frank made a good deal,” he said. He also suggested that the new engines were easier to install and they used less fuel.