Williams technical director Sam Michael admitted that the team were not quick enough to get into Q3 during today’s qualifying session for the Canadian Grand Prix.
However, Pastor Maldonado continued to show his recent good form as he qualified twelfth for his first race in Montreal whilst Rubens Barrichello‘s FW33 was compromised by brake disc issue and the Brazilian had to settle for sixteenth.
“We weren’t quick enough for the top ten today but Pastor did well to get the most out of his car,” said Michael, looking back on the qualifying session. “He probably could have gone better but he ran out of KERS on his fastest lap as we weren't able to re-charge it quickly enough. Rubens had some brake warm-up issues on his car and so he wasn't able to get his best lap together. This race always presents opportunities, however, and the team will be pushing hard for more points.”
Maldonado himself is looking forward to his first Canadian Grand Prix and is optimistic of having a good race tomorrow. “I got 100% out of the car this afternoon so I'm happy with my qualifying performance,” said the Venezuelan rookie. “For sure it's better to be in the top ten, but there are plenty of variables expected in this race. Our pace is good and the field is very close. We are not too far from the points and, with overtaking possible here, there's every chance we can have a good day tomorrow. I think it's going to be an exciting race.”
Barrichello also thinks that he can get something out of the race from down in P16 and says that there is every reason to be positive. “Unfortunately, we had with a problem with the front disc in Q2,” he explained. “It wasn't coming up to temperature so the car was pulling to one side and eventually caused me to go off the track. In the end, it cost us a lot of time and forced us to change our strategy. We actually have a very good car that is capable of better things but there are overtaking opportunities here, and we have the pace, so there is every reason to be positive for a strong race.”
