Rubens Barrichello took advantage of the updates his Williams team have brought to Silverstone to clinch eighth on the gird during today's (Saturday) qualifying session for the British Grand Prix.
“The upgrades are all working well, but they need more development if we are to move higher up the field,” said Barrichello.
“[The] top eight in qualifying is a good effort by the team. We still have to improve but today's result is satisfying and probably the best we could hope for. I hope we can get into the top six tomorrow. The cars are all very close, and there aren't too many overtaking opportunities around the lap, so it's going to be a good battle.”
On the other side of the team's garage Nico Hulkerburg was one of many drivers who had hot timed laps disrupted by traffic around the new Silverstone layout.
He explains; “As I was going into the first corner on a quick lap in Q2, Liuzzi exited the pitlane under blue flags but didn't move out of my way. That ruined my lap from the outset as I couldn't get past him. I also struggled with the car today. I don't know why and I'll be looking into that with my engineers now.”
The cocktail of traffic and set-up problems limited the rookie German to 13th fastest during the session.
“It was a shame that Nico didn’t go through to Q3,” conceded the team's technical director Sam Michael. “All the new parts have improved the cars' pace but, as usual, we need to keep working hard on the whole car package. Our focus is now on the race and scoring points tomorrow.”
