Williams were left disappointed after today’s Malaysian Grand Prix, after the team failed to see either car in the points for the second time in two races.
Furthermore, for Pastor Maldonado, it was the second retirement in a week. After suffering an off track moment that necessitated a pit stop for a new front wing, his day was eventually ended by a KERS problem.
“The intermediate tyres made the start of the race very difficult as it was very slippery, particularly in the first sector. We had a good strategy to pit earlier in the race and opt for the dry tyres. I made a small mistake on braking into Turn 11 which forced me to run wide and damage the front wing slightly,” the Venezuelan said.
“After a new set of tyres, the pace in the second stint was good, but unfortunately my race ended early after a KERS problem forced us to retire the car. We will now work hard to prepare as best we can for the next two flyaway races.”
Meanwhile, his team mate, Valtteri Bottas missed out on his first Formula One points by a mere 1.4 seconds. Nevertheless, the high rated Finn was left relatively happy with his day’s work.
“I had a good start but then I drove off the dry line racing van der Garde and ran wide dropping to the back of the field. Once the track started to dry I was able to start overtaking a few cars and I had a good, clean race,” he said.
“The team did a great job with the strategy and with a few more laps I could have started attacking for a championship point. We maximised what we had today but I trust in the team that we can now continue working together to improve.”
“After running wide on the first lap, Valtteri drove a great race to fight back through the field and finish just outside the points. We ran different strategies with both cars with Pastor needing to pit early for a new nose after running wide on lap 15,” technical director Mike Coughlan added.
“We then had a KERS problem on his car which meant he had to stop out on track as a precaution. The team are now investigating this. Overall we feel our performance has improved since Melbourne, but we still have work to do.”
