Mat Coch writes:

The 2010 season holds little worth remembering for Patrick Head, the Williams Engineering Director finding it difficult to get excited over sixth place in the constructors' title.

"We had a pretty weak first half of the year, we were a bit stronger in the second but I don't think we've got any reason to be particularly pleased with ourselves," he told journalists.

Abu Dhabi proved to be a disappointing weekend at the end of a disappointing season for the Grove based outfit, Barrichello and Hulkenberg capable of just twelfth and sixteenth respectively. After the jubilation of Brazil a week earlier, where the team scored its first pole in over five years, the team soon came crashing back to reality.

Heading into the weekend the team sat just a single point ahead of Force India in the constructors' race. With their focus on maintaining that position the Grove outfit adopted a conservative, if not somewhat negative, approach to the race.

"It was clear that we probably should have done what Rosberg and Petrov and Alguersuari did, and we were well aware of that," Head admitted. "Wisdom after the event is fine but from our analysis it would have taken Rubens out of a position ahead of Sutil to a position very far back, with a very uncertain situation on how it would pan out from then on.

"Yes we would have liked to have finished higher up in the race," he continued, "but ultimately covering Force India was our biggest target."

Their plight was in stark contrast to former rivals Red Bull, who sealed their first drivers' title with Sebastian Vettel a week after claiming their maiden constructors crown in Brazil.

"If you go back to 2008 or something, or 2007/2008, and Red Bull and ourselves were very close together," recalls the Englishman, "but they've made the changes that have allowed them to achieve what they've done over this season and we obviously haven't."

A contributing factor to the team's performance this year was the late adoption of the Cosworth power plant. While more powerful than the Renault used by Red Bull the Williams team were forced to redesign the FW32 accommodate the new engine, having originally intended to use a Toyota power plant. It set the team back in the development race, the team forced to put development time back into the fundamental design of the car instead of tweaks to improve its performance. It was midseason before they caught up.

Now Comfortable with the Cosworth, Head believes the team is starting from a better baseline when it comes to the FW33. The problem, as he sees it, is that they won't know until testing starts in February just how they stack up against the opposition. "You know what you're doing in-house, you know what progress you're making in-house, but you don't know what the other people are doing," he explains. "It's not really until February and maybe even the first couple of races that you know how one's going to get on."

While a return to the glory days of the 1990's are a pipe dream Head believes the team understands where it was lacking in 2010, and looks to draw on Red Bull for motivation. "They've just had a brilliant season and set a standard for the rest of us to aspire to. We've been there in the past.

"We've got our targets, and we'll see next year how we come out."