Stroll had spun into the barriers on the exit of Turn 5 late in the afternoon – damaging the front suspension and nose of the car.

The team had hoped that the car could be repaired in time for Thursday's wet test, but a detailed inspection revealed damage to the chassis.

Williams said: “Following a thorough inspection overnight some damage to the FW40 chassis was discovered.

“Therefore, on safety grounds, the team will not run the car today. A second chassis will be prepared at [the] track this afternoon as originally planned, with the team aiming to be back on track for the second test next week starting on Tuesday 7 March.”

Felipe Massa had been due to run on Friday for Pirelli’s allotted wet weather test – and Williams’ absence will leave the team without valuable data of the new wider rain tyres.