New Williams Martini Racing Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe was pleased to score some strong points at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, with driver Felipe Massa’s sixth place finish a bonus, after a disrupted race weekend for the Grove based squad.
“The first race is always very important and it’s great to get good points with sixth position for Felipe.”
Lowe praised the Brazilian’s efforts throughout the race, and stated that finishing best of the rest behind the top three teams was a great achievement, especially with all the missed tack time Massa endured during the weekend, an electrical issue curtailing his running in FP2, and brake problems hindering his performance in FP3.
“He had great pace the whole way through the race, and was very controlled with a strong start, good first corner and so managed to get ahead of Grosjean.
“His tyre management was also very good so we were able to do the one stop that we had planned all along.
“Probably even more important though, was to see solid pace that keeps us in touch with the three teams at the front.”
Lowe was also impressed with rookie driver Lance Stroll’s performance during his first ever F1 race, and has advised the team will be investigating what caused the 18-year-olds brakes to fail, ending his race early.
“It is a shame for Lance, who put in a good first drive with some overtakes in his first race in Formula One, so it is a shame that he then had to retire with a brake failure.
“Clearly that’s an issue we need to get on top for the races to come and make sure we don’t have a repeat.”
The Brit is impressed with his new team so far, and believes they have a strong car with which to fight this season.
“But, overall, congratulations to the team back in Grove who have built a great car to launch our 2017 campaign.”