The 2006 Formula One season would see the WilliamsF1 team have the opportunity of using a third driver during Friday practice. The driver that the team finally picked was Alex Wurz. In the three Grand Prix's so far Alex has proven himself to be a valuable asset for the team, so much so that Technical Director Sam Michael feels that "Alex is fantastic."

In a recent interview for Autosport Michael put forward the view that the pace of mark Webber and Nico Rosberg has been helped considerably by Alex's input during Friday practice. Alex has the luxury of been able to complete a considerable number of laps on Friday enabling the team and its race drivers to make an accurate decision regarding their race tyres.

In the interview Michael said: "Alex is fantastic. He would be the world champion of Friday third car driving if there was a championship for that.

"He has driven F1 cars for a long time - so has got a lot of experience across cars, teams and tyres. He is also very good with electronics, and that all helps him to be an awfully good driver at a test. But the most important thing on the Friday is that he drives within himself by a couple of tenths to make sure he gets the answer. A lot of the other third car Friday drivers are there to put themselves on the map and take a lot more risks than Alex does.

"It is probably because Alex has got a lot of confidence and inherent talent, but he doesn't do anything stupid on Fridays because he knows his answer on the prime-versus-option tyre choice is the most important thing for him to do all weekend.

"If he goes one or two tenths quicker, then we are not going to go, 'wow, look at that'. But if he does do that and goes into the wall then we will give him a hard time for not getting the prime versus option numbers."