As Williams technical boss, Paddy Lowe, takes a leave of absence, it is understood questions have been raised over the legality of a number of components on the team's 2019 contender which need to be resolved before next week's season opener in Melbourne.

Having missed the first two and a half days of testing in Barcelona because the car was not ready, Williams is already heading to the season opener on the back foot.

Indeed, though the Grove outfit was soon racking up the miles in Spain, the final day was effectively a write-off as, due to a lack of vital parts, Robert Kubica had to focus on practice starts and pit stops rather than adding serious mileage to the team's tally.

Now, in the wake of Paddy Lowe's leave of absence, it has been revealed that following testing the FIA has raised questions over the legality of the FW42's mirrors and front suspension, which must be resolved in time for Melbourne.

The regulations state that the front suspension can only consist of six members - four wishbone members, one pushrod and one steering arm - whereas the FW42 features a seventh, a thin member that runs along the edge of the lower wishbone.

At the same time, the team has been asked to change the curved mirrors it ran in Spain to a new more conventional design the team has not run before.

As if all this wasn't bad enough, according to Auto Motor und Sport, rival teams have picked Williams to build the 'mule' car for Pirelli's tyre testing for its 2021 tyres.

"Pirelli asked teams to build a special "mule car" for 2021 tyre testing," said AMuS's Tobi Grunner on Twitter. "Teams agreed that only Williams would be allowed to supply such a car. Engineers worried about unfair advantage. But with Williams apparently being far behind it would be okay."

Normally, the teams are understandably wary as to who should supply the 'mule' as this effectively gives said team an advantage. However, recognising that Williams is now so far behind, and therefore offers no perceivable threat, they appear to have nominated Williams, the team second only to Ferrari in terms of Constructors' Championships and joint-third with Mercedes in terms of drivers' titles.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by johnfaganwilliams, 11/03/2019 9:40

"Maybe you could interview Patrick about all this? That would be an article!"

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2. Posted by VC10-1103, 09/03/2019 9:51

"OK, I can understand changing the suspension design may cause a problem, but changing the mirrors? "

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3. Posted by @R1Racing71, 08/03/2019 15:40

"I really fear for this team. A lot of people, good people have been through the doors in the past few years.
I’m not sure how this is going to end.
"

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4. Posted by GarH, 08/03/2019 15:01

"We've all heard of or worked with someone who's convinced they can't be replaced. They can and are. It's time Frank Williams stopped pulling the strings at his team and retired. It's pretty obvious he put Claire into the hot seat because she'll do his bidding. The alternative was his son Jonathan, who's not a talking box, like his sister, but knows what it takes to run a racing team.

There are deep rooted problems at Williams, it's an unhappy business and has been for a long time. There's a need to fix things now, because the next stop is down the drain. "

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5. Posted by Yeyox02, 08/03/2019 14:19

"I will buy the Williams team for a penny which is a lot of money."

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6. Posted by mickl, 08/03/2019 13:00

"Did Laurence Stroll do a Jedi mind trick and make every think Force India(Racing Point) is now Williams and vice versa?"

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7. Posted by F1nerd, 08/03/2019 10:04

"How many more problems can FW put up with? It appears to be never ending, and I for one was hoping to see Williams with top ten finishes at least this year. I hope when they hit the track all will be resolved and the drivers are up to the challenge which will not be easy for either of them."

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