Rubens Barrichello will give Williams’ 2011 car its track debut at Valencia on 1 February, a spokeswoman for the Oxfordshire based team has confirmed.
She told Dutch website f1today.nl that although veteran Barrichello will be driving on the first day, the Brazilian’s new teammate Pastor Maldonado will take over half-way through the second day as the pair equally share all the pre-season testing.

The spokeswoman also said Williams has not decided whether the 1 February debut will coincide with a conventional “launch”.

“The FW33 will be in action at the first test in Valencia,” she said.

The team’s engineering boss and co-owner Patrick Head wrote in his new column for Motorsport magazine that the FW33 is “more adventurous” than Williams’ 2010 car.

“Rubens told the media that he thought the car looked radical, but I think it is just more adventurous than our 2010 car, and to move upwards in team order, it will need to be,” said the Briton.

Head admitted it is “unfortunate” Nico Hulkenberg was not retained for 2011 even though he thinks the young German “deserves a seat on merit”.

He insists that Venezuelan Maldonado, who in 2010 succeeded Hulkenberg as the new GP2 champion and “comes with some financial support”, also “deserves” the seat.

F1 is moving to reduce the risk posed by flying wheels.

Last year, GP2 driver Henry Surtees died when a stray wheel from a crashed car struck him on the head.

There was a similar incident during the final practice session at Hockenheim last weekend, with Timo Glock narrowly avoiding a bouncing wheel after Vitantonio Liuzzi’s crash.

“I was lucky that I left a bit of room behind Liuzzi in the Motodrom to warm up my brakes.  Otherwise I would have been right behind him,” the German told Auto Motor und Sport.

A tether on Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari broke in his Monaco crash this year.

F1 introduced wheel tethers in 1998, connecting the wheels to the chassis.  They are made of a special polymer called polybenzoaoxide or Zylon.

But flying wheels continue to pose a risk to drivers as well as to spectators, as seen in Melbourne in 2001 with the death of a marshal behind the spectator fencing, and in 2000 when a marshal was killed at Monza.

“Tethers are of great concern to us,” said McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe.

“We discussed the issue at the Technical Working Group and we have agreed for next year to introduce a second tether on every corner,” he revealed to reporters during a teleconference.

Pirelli is F1′s new tyre supplier for 2011-2013, it was announced on Wednesday.

A raft of other decisions were also announced after a meeting in Geneva of the World Motor Sport Council.

As a response to the spygate and crashgate scandals, it is “under consideration” that staff of F1 teams must hold “specific licenses” from 2011 that can be revoked by the FIA.

And in the wake of the controversy involving Michael Schumacher in Monaco, the FIA has ruled that there will be no overtaking even when the safety car pulls in on the last lap of a race.

Lewis Hamilton’s fine and reprimand after qualifying in Canada has resulted in a new rule requiring drivers to stay below a “maximum time” set by the FIA on in-laps

Next year, the 107 per cent qualifying rule will reappear, and the FIA has also banned F-ducts and approved the debut of the proximity rear wing.

“In the race, you can’t use it (the wing) for the first two laps at all, but after that if you’re within a second of the car in front then you will be able to deploy it,” McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe said on Wednesday.

“So that will be very interesting.  That’s a FOTA initiative to improve the show and I think it’s very exciting.”

And for the return of KERS, the minimum car-plus-driver weight will increase by a further 20kg to 640kg.

Meanwhile, a “four-race probationary super license” has been approved for Renault’s official third driver Ho-Pin Tung.

(GMM)

Red Bull had to modify an element of its rear diffuser during the recent Monaco grand prix weekend.

Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports that McLaren identified an element of the dominant RB6′s design that did not conform with the regulations.

The rear of the Adrian Newey-penned car has recently been under intense scrutiny by Red Bull’s competitors, resulting in numerous team mechanics crowding around the gearbox while it sits on the grid.

“Obviously the back of the cars are so sensitive now we try and make it as difficult for others to see as possible,” confirmed team boss Christian Horner.

Reportedly, McLaren’s engineering director Paddy Lowe spotted something on the Barcelona grid that he suspected did not conform to the rules with regards to the “infinite precision” principle.

Red Bull was asked by FIA officials in Monaco to modify the design, but subsequently dominated the famous street event.

“We had to run a version without those (diffuser) wings and found that it was even better than before,” said Horner.

(GMM)