Williams did not have the pace to score points at Monza today – at least that is the view of technical director Sam Michael, who watched Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello finished the Italian Grand Prix in eleventh and twelfth places respectively.
Barrichello was caught up in the aftermath of the first corner accident that was triggered by the out-of-control HRT of Vitantonio Liuzzi. He was forced to pit for a new nose at the end of the opening lap, and then had to fight his way back up the field.
“I had a brilliant start, gaining three or four positions as we headed into the first corner, but then I saw an HRT come past,” said the Brazilian. “I was lucky he didn't hit me but I was then in the middle of the action and so had to stop the car. I didn't hit anyone, but when Rosberg started to move he hit my nose, it was a difficult situation. It's a shame I got caught in that, as with the pace and the strategy I could have scored some points for the team today.”
Maldonado avoided that accident, but complains of inconsistent pace which prevented him from finishing in the top ten. “I had a great start and made up a lot of positions while also avoiding the accident,” he said. “The pace at the beginning was quite strong, but in the second stint we started to lose time and it was difficult to maintain that good rhythm. At the end of the race we had a consistent pace but unfortunately it just wasn't quick enough.”
Sam Michael revealed that there will be further upgrades to the FW33 at Singapore in a fortnight, but bemoaned the lack of pace of Williams at this particular event.
“We didn’t have the pace to score points today,” said Michael. “Rubens was caught up in the first corner incident through no fault of his own but recovered the car to change his front wing. He then began chasing up to the back of the pack during the safety car, although not making it to the back of the field as the race restarted. From that point onwards, we had him scheduled to make just one more stop to try to take advantage if something unusual happened.
“Pastor had a great position after the safety car and a decent first stint, but we didn’t have the pace in the following stints to hold on to the position. Our focus is now on Singapore to put the next upgrade on the car for the remaining races.”
