With the start of the 2007 Formula One season just under a week away the question on many Williams’ fans is whether the team can bounce back from their poor 2006 season, which saw them finish eighth in the Constructors championship. For a team that has dominated the sport in years gone by the prospect of dropping even further down the order must be extremely frustrating. It has been nearly ten years since the team won its last championship.

All at Williams have spoken about their desire to see things turn around for the team but has the team done enough to be in a position to change the down hill slide of previous years.

The team has put in place what appears to be a structure, both at a management level and also with their drivers, that will should allow the team to see an improvement in their performances in 2007. Financially the team has also been able to re-sign many of their existing sponsors, as well as attracting several new high profile companies to the team. 2007 will also see the team use Toyota engines for the first time but they are still not in a position of having manufacturer support, such as in the days of BMW's involvement with the team.

At a management level the arrival of Rod Nelson, formerly Fernando Alonso’s race engineer, in the role of Chief Operations Engineer should help Technical Director Sam Michael focus more on turning around the team in such areas as reliability and in the development of the FW29 over the course of the season. Also the move into the role of Test Team Manager by the very experienced Dickie Stanford , replacing Mike Condliffe, should also strengthen the team.

In the sponsorship area the team has been able to maintain sponsorship from existing sponsors such as Allianz, Oris, Hamleys but they have also been able to attract new sponsors including Lenovo and title sponsor AT&T. In light of the teams poor performance in 2006 the signing of these companies indicates that the team is still viewed as a potentially successful proposition. The arrival of these companies certainly does not mean that the team has a budget that is comparable to the likes of Renault or Toyota but it does place the team in a better position that 2006 where the team did not have a title sponsor.

The arrival of Toyota certainly is a major improvement for the team after having to cope with the Cosworth engine in 2006. The Toyota engine has been viewed favourably and combined with the new FW29, which has shown that it is faster than its predecessor in winter testing, the team should feel confident that they have a car and engine package that should see them secure some good results during the year.

On the driver side the team has retained the services of Nico Rosberg, and brought former test driver Alex Wurz to the second race seat. Alex brings to the team a vast amount of experience which should not only assist the team but also help Nico during what is only his second year in Formula One.

The only question mark hanging over Alex's position with the team is whether or not he can reproduce the form that he had in the past, considering that he has spent a large part of his career in the role of Test driver away from demands of a Grand Prix weekend. If he can re-capture his form he will play a vital role in seeing the teams fortunes turned around.

As for team-mate Nico Rosberg his form in the early part of the 2006 season raised what could be considered to be unrealistic expectations as to what he could achieve and the later part of the season saw him struggle along with the team. But his performances relative to his team-mate Mark Webber did show that he has promise. Now it is 2007 and Nico must aim to regain the level of performance that he had in the early part of 2006. So long as the team can deliver a car which will allow him to show his undoubted talent. But Nico must temper this by remembering that he needs to finish races and look at scoring results for the team, not throwing races away like he did in Brazil 2006.

But ultimately it will all come down to whether or not the 20007 FW29 has the speed to make it a front runner during the season. The only form which one can use to judge the performance of the new car is the winter testing and the results can be viewed favourably. The FW29 has been consistently faster than Honda, Toyota and Red Bull and on the odd occasion faster than the Renaults and BMW Saubers. Reliability, a major problem in 2006, is also promising with no major problems apparent at this this early stage. Despite the encouraging form of the new FW29 it is still off the pace of the Ferraris and McLarens.

Based on the efforts made by the team to turn things around by enhancing the staff across the company and the early season form of the FW29 the Williams team should bounce back from their disappointing 2006 season. Despite comments from team members to the contrary podium finishes are likely but race victories may be a bit too much to ask for. Certainly 2007 will be a season that will see the Williams team bounce back from the poor results of 2006.