With the start of the opening test session for the 2016 Formula One season drawing closer Williams Technical Director Pat Symonds spoke to Autosport.com as to where the teams priorities lay in terms of the development of the FW38 compared to have the services of a top level driver, such as Alonso.

For Symonds it is very much the case that the Williams team will continue to place the development of the car over that of having a superstar driver. The last two years has seen Williams finish 3rd in the Constructors championship even with a budget that is below that of many of their rivals.

Symonds believes that the teams budget must be focused on areas where the team knows that it has work to do rather than spending a large part of their budget on securing a driver.

Symonds said: "When I've said it in the past, I didn't meant we couldn't exploit what superstar drivers have got, but they cost money.

"But at the moment, we are deficient in areas which I would prioritise over a superstar driver.

"So if Alonso came to drive for us, we would make full use of him and we'd work well with him.

"We'd give him what we needed, there's no doubt about it, but if we had to pay his salary, we may not eat for a year."

As for their current driver pairing of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa Symonds spoke of how impressed he was with them and if he had to choose again he would still choose both Massa and Bottas.

Symonds added: "I think they are perfect for our team, they work so well together.

"They are such team players and they push each other really hard because they are actually very similar in performance.

"They push each other in a pleasant way and it helps to get the whole team working nicely.

"Honestly, if I had a totally free hand, I'd keep exactly what we have got and it's not often I would say that."