Karthikeyan: Williams can win in '07 - EXCLUSIVE.

by Russell Atkins

Narain Karthikeyan insists Williams should not be ruled out of the equation for winning a grand prix this year, after the multiple title-winning squad's new FW29 has shown promising form in initial testing.

Following a nightmare 2006 campaign that saw the Grove-based outfit rack up a paltry 11 points and a similar number of mechanically-caused retirements, Karthikeyan is convinced Williams can fight back this season, with a new engine relationship with Toyota and a pioneering seamless-shift gearbox among the biggest reasons for cheer.

"It's the start of a new year so you are always excited," he enthused to Crash.net. "From what we saw at the end of 2006 with the new Toyota engine and gearbox and everything else, the FW29 should be a big step forward. It needs to be a big step forward, because obviously we didn't have such a good season last year.

"Reliability-wise we have had no big problems in the gearbox department, and when I drove it the engine was perfect. The Toyota is good on both reliability and performance and the new car is improved on the aerodynamic side too, along with so many other factors, so I am very positive as is everyone else in the team. With all those ingredients we should have a fine-performing car."

The Indian's optimism is typical of the way Williams is approaching the forthcoming season as it bids to erase the bad memories of last year. The 30-year-old is aware, however, the testing limitations in force this year will make it more difficult for him to get the miles under his belt.

"It's going to affect all the test-drivers in Formula 1," he acknowledged, "because it's pretty restrictive now. The more testing I get the happier I will be, but most of the test-drivers do find something else to do apart from just testing, so I'm in the same boat as everyone else. We are all trying to do some other form of racing at the same time - it keeps you in the right spectrum."

Taking a more overall view, Karthikeyan said he was confident Williams was back on the right track with the FW29, and went so far as to say it was not out of the question the team would win a race this year, something it has not done since the end of 2004.

"Everybody wants to win," he admitted. "The team knows how to win, and we would like to make a big step forward which means definitely looking at podiums, and why not a win too?"