Rubens Barrichello scored points again in his second race for Williams, finishing eighth. Nico Hulkenberg had his debut race at Albert Park cut short after he fell victim to the first lap accident of Kamui Kobayashi in the Sauber.
Barrichello, speaking after the exciting, rain-hit race in Melbourne, thinks he could have scored more points. “It was a good race, but we should have finished in seventh really. We took the chance to change tyres when we did and go for it. I thought everyone else would also come in, which is why I went for that route. More points for the team today is positive though. The car is good enough; we will just be picking up more points before we get podiums.”
Hulkenberg was understandable annoyed by the way his debut Australian Grand Prix ended. “Today was obviously pretty disappointing. I was already in the corner when I was suddenly hit from behind by Kamui Kobayashi. It was quite a big impact. I'm not sure what caused it, but it's frustrating because I was looking forward to my first race here.”
Technical Director Sam Michael said that while it is good to pick up points, the teams performance is still short of what they are hoping for. “It was good to get some more points, but we need to bring more performance to the car and to the engine. Doing both is the major part of our development programme over the next few races. Rubens drove well through all the conditions he faced today. Unfortunately, Nico was knocked out of the race by another car.”
The team will now move straight onto Kuala Lumpur for next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.
