Massa still waiting for new Williams nose

Apr.1 (GMM) The Williams team is still waiting for its highly-anticipated new ultra-short nose to touch down in the Bahrain paddock.

But even when it does arrive from Britain, it will not get fitted to Valtteri Bottas' car.

"Felipe (Massa) has more points," he is quoted by Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper. "So if the front wing gets here, it will go on his car."

It is believed the earliest the single version of the new front assembly will then be fitted to Massa's car is Saturday morning.

"It should arrive tomorrow," the Brazilian said on Thursday, according to Globo. "We may not use it in practice. The idea is to have it on the car on Saturday morning."

A lot is riding on the performance of the new nose, with Bottas admitting that Williams risks falling behind both Toro Rosso and Red Bull and perhaps even Force India.

"That's why every little step forward at this point would help," he said.

"I still believe we are stronger than last year, but everyone has improved and some have made bigger jumps than us. Now we have to develop the car more."

Massa agrees: "The car was designed for this front. The indications in the wind tunnel and simulator are that it is an important improvement, but we won't know for sure until we see it on the track."