{"id":520,"date":"2020-11-20T19:27:09","date_gmt":"2020-11-20T20:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=520"},"modified":"2020-11-21T03:47:36","modified_gmt":"2020-11-21T03:47:36","slug":"wa-prodigy-following-in-ricciardos-footsteps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=520","title":{"rendered":"WA prodigy following in Ricciardo's footsteps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perth already has one Formula One driver in Daniel Ricciardo<\/a>, but rising star Calan Williams acknowledges 2021 will be critical if he hopes to one day join his fellow West Australian on the grid.<\/p>\n

Williams is fresh off his debut season in the Formula 3 championship, one of four Australians who competed in the F1 feeder series<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n

While Melbourne's Oscar Piastri came away with the title<\/a>, for Williams the season was far from smooth sailing, with a best finish of 14th hardly a fair reflection of his ability.<\/p>\n

"I'm happy with how I went, but obviously there's room for improvement," Williams told Wide World of Sports.<\/p>\n

"Unfortunately, the results didn't reflect the performances. I qualified fifth in Hungary, and was third at the first corner, then unfortunately I got hit from behind which not only took me out of that race, but meant I started last on the grid the next day.<\/p>\n

\"Calan<\/p>\n

"It was the same at Monza, I started fourth and got hit a few laps in and had to start from the rear in the second race.<\/p>\n

"It's a tricky format, and it didn't work for me this year."<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old, who won the Australian Formula 3 title in 2017, says it's already clear where he needs to improve next year.<\/p>\n

"There were a few qualifying sessions where my track position wasn't ideal, and I lost some time there, which you just can't afford to do," he explained.<\/p>\n

"That's something I've got written down for next year, with a big line under it, to make sure I never do it again!<\/p>\n

"It's just a silly mistake that compromises your weekend."<\/p>\n

\"Calan<\/p>\n

In the cut-throat world of motorsport, if you're standing still, you're going backwards, and Williams acknowledges that 2021 is a make-or-break year for his career.<\/p>\n

It's a year where he needs to put the results on the board, in order to justify a move up the ladder to Formula 2 the following season.<\/p>\n

"Next year is really a performance year. There's no room for error. I've got to be giving 100 percent all the time, it's very simple," he said.<\/p>\n

"There'll be no excuse for making the same mistakes as I did this year.<\/p>\n

\"Calan<\/p>\n

"I've been taking the time to work out not only what I did well, but what I didn't do well, and to make sure we move forward in 2021."<\/p>\n

The experience he gained in 2020 should stand him in good stead in 2021, in a category where familiarity with the tracks and the car is invaluable.<\/p>\n

Formula 3 runs as one of the support categories to Formula 1, meaning track-time on a race weekend is limited. Drivers have just one practice session before qualifying, and a poor grid position for race one can ruin the weekend before it's even started.<\/p>\n

"I'm definitely looking forward to next year and using this year's experience to my advantage," Williams said.<\/p>\n

"You can only be taught so much about the car. Over time you always develop a greater understanding of the car than anyone can explain to you.<\/p>\n

"It's all the little things that are so valuable when the competition is as tight and as tough as F3 is.<\/p>\n

"If you were a second off pole, you were 20th. Every tenth of a second was so vital, because it was so difficult to pass. Qualifying and race one are so important."<\/p>\n

\"Australia's<\/p>\n

The early signs are positive, with Williams amongst the front runners in post-season testing.<\/p>\n

Following a jam-packed 2020 season, which saw nine races jammed into just 11 weeks, Williams says the time off at the end of the season proved invaluable.<\/p>\n

"I was very happy with the testing. Having a couple of weeks after the season to reflect and switch off before testing again, was really important in helping me to assemble all the experience I gained and use it to improve," he said.<\/p>\n

"That was reflected in the test. I was P2 at Barcelona and Jack Doohan beat me by two-thousandths of a second, which was annoying!<\/p>\n

"The condensed schedule definitely added an extra layer of difficulty. We would normally have a couple of weeks to reflect, and have a long debrief and transfer what we learned into a plan for the next race. But to not have that opportunity during the season made it a bit tougher.<\/p>\n

"Looking at the draft calendar for next year, it looks like there's a few breaks, so that's good."<\/p>\n

Williams is yet to confirm where he'll drive in 2021, but explained that an announcement regarding his plans isn't far away.<\/p>\n

"We are still finalising the details, but in terms of a drive for next year I am intending to race again with Jenzer Motorsport. There's a huge amount of potential in that team, and I was really happy with the way I worked with my engineer this year," he said.<\/p>\n

\"Calan<\/p>\n

"I'm really looking forward to doing another season with them, there was quite a few times where we showed the potential in 2020 and we started our preparations at the recent tests in Barcelona and Jerez very strongly, so I'm looking forward to what we can achieve together."<\/p>\n

Williams says there's plenty of positives to come out of this season, but also plenty to learn.<\/p>\n

But he admits the opening races of the 2021 season will be critical to the determining how the year unfolds.<\/p>\n

"I've got to make sure I do everything I can to hit the ground running," he said.<\/p>\n

"The first few races are so important. You want to run at the front, have some good performances and get some points on the board. That's huge not only for the driver's confidence, but the team as well.<\/p>\n

"There's a lot of positives to take from the year, but also lots to learn.<\/p>\n

"I think next year is going to be a strong one, there's plenty of confidence after the testing, but certainly not complacency."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perth already has one Formula One driver in Daniel Ricciardo, but rising star Calan Williams acknowledges 2021 will be critical if he hopes to one […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=520"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":523,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/520\/revisions\/523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}