Shanghai: Williams hope new parts will lift them off the bottom of the Formula One table in China this weekend after two dismal races for the former champions.
Neither Brazilian Rubens Barrichello nor Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado have finished a race this season, leaving the team behind newcomers Virgin Racing and Team Lotus in the constructors' championship.
"It is not the dream start to the year we wished we would have had," Barrichello told a news conference at the Shanghai circuit.
"By mistake, I put myself out of contention in Australia in qualifying and the race was going good until the problem again. In Malaysia, it was just not there. The car was not competitive and we were struggling.
"I am sure it is going to be a lot better here. We have new parts, we have new things and we are hoping for a much, much brighter weekend."
Williams had looked good in pre-season testing, with a radically-reworked car that boasted the team's smallest ever gearbox.
Maldonado lasted nine laps in the Australian season-opener before being sidelined by a transmission failure while Barrichello made a trip into the gravel, was given a drive-through penalty for colliding with Mercedes' Nico Rosberg and then retired.
In Malaysia last weekend, Barrichello suffered a hydraulics problem while Maldonado also parked up early.
"I think we would have qualified top 10 in the first race," said Barrichello.
"The second race we were 15th and it was the best we could have achieved. Here I don't know. We just need to see how the car will develop. Without any changes, I guess we can be a top 12. With the changes, I hope we can be top six."
Williams chairman Adam Parr has expressed surprise and frustration at the team's poor start and indicated personnel changes will have to be made.
"We will be looking not only at how to address the short-term issues, we will be working together to strengthen the team for 2012 and beyond," he said after Malaysia.
"Every aspect will be reviewed; nothing is sacred, but we will do this methodically and not in a reactive way. We will move forward but that does not alter the fact that we have started too far behind."
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