It was a tale of contrasting fortunes for both Williams drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix. Pastor Maldonado enjoyed a trouble free run to collect his first points since his victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, but Bruno Senna had a tougher time of it.
Maldonado, who has come into criticism recently, answered his critics with a solid drive to eighth place.
“It was a good race for me. The car had great pace and was very consistent, but it proved difficult to overtake, especially towards the end. We felt we were quicker than the cars in front, but the nature of the track makes it difficult to close the gap. We’re back in the points so I’m happy with that as it gives us great confidence going into the next race,” the Venezuelan said.
But for Senna, it was a disappointing run.
He collected Nico Rosberg at turn two following the Webber/Grosjean accident, requiring a visit to the pits for a new front wing. To add insult to injury, he was later given a drive through penalty and therefore finished in fourteenth place.
“We had a good start managing to overtake two cars but unfortunately I ran into an incident with Rosberg on the second corner after taking the inside line. The race was slightly compromised from then on but we still had good pace. The car felt very competitive which allowed us to overtake quite a few cars and the tyres were responding well. We now go to Korea and will try to score some points there,” he said.
“Both drivers drove well today with strong pace throughout the race. Bruno’s race was compromised with an early stop to replace a damaged front wing assembly and then with his subsequent drive-through penalty for contact with Rosberg. Pastor managed his tyres well throughout the race and brought the car home in a well-deserved 8th. We now immediately direct our attention to next weekend’s Korean GP,” Mark Gillan, the team’s Chief Operations Engineer concluded.
