At their home race, Williams secured their first double points finish of the 2010 season, with Rubens Barrichello placed fifth and Nico Hulkenberg tenth.
Barrichello, who also finished fourth in Valencia a fortnight ago, started eighth but got straight up to sixth place off the line. He benefited from the retirement of Robert Kubica and a penalty for Fernando Alonso and collected the points for the Oxfordshire-based team.
“It was a good race today,” said the Brazilian. “It started well on the opening lap and I managed to claim some positions
without too much trouble. Around the stops and the Safety Car, we gained a position from Alonso and lost one to Jenson, but overall we were in a safe position to come home in fifth.
“It is a great effort from the team to achieve a top five finish two races in a row – not so much in absolute results, but the direction of improvement. The team is still not quite where it belongs, but we are quite happy with our performance today. We will continue to think and work positively and continue our forward progress.”
Hulkenberg, who started the race in thirteenth, took advantage of good strategy calls from the team to claim his second Formula 1 points finish.
“All in all that was a positive race,” said the German driver. “It's a shame I lost places at the start though and going down the Hangar Straight Petrov just managed to overtake me round the outside. That, combined with not being able to get past Michael (Schumacher) at the end, meant tenth for me today. A long first stint on the option tyre was the right strategy call and a good effort by the team.”
Williams technical director Sam Michael praised both his drivers for their performances at Silverstone, and said that the team must now build on the improving performance they have shown in the last couple of races.
“Both drivers in the points today is another good result for the team,” said Michael. “Rubens had a great first lap and embedded himself into a points-paying position. Nico did an excellent job in his first stint, following a different strategy and staying out on his set of options for as long as possible.
“All of the aero upgrades worked well on both cars, which shows the factory is making good progress. We now need to maintain that progress.”
