Williams Martini Racing Technical Director Paddy Lowe says the Japanese Grand Prix was a difficult race for the team, so to come out of it with one point was pleasing.
Early issues for driver Lance Stroll compromised his strategy, with the Canadian having to switch on to a two stop, before a car failure that brought on a puncture, ended his race prematurely.
Felipe Massa also sustained damage during the grand prix, which although not race ending, severely reduced his pace, making it difficult for the Brazilian in the latter stages when he had to defend from an advancing Fernando Alonso.
Despite the issues they endured, Lowe felt it was a strong effort from the whole team.
“We had two very good starts, with Felipe retaining eighth and Lance doing very well to move up to eleventh on the first lap. But very early on, Lance suspected he had a puncture, so we stopped to put on another set of tyres.
“This committed him to a two-stop race, which he executed with good pace, but very near the end he had a car failure which caused a puncture in the Esses and threw him off the circuit.
“On Felipe’s side, he was going fine on a one-stop strategy but took a lot of damage on his car during the race. As he got towards half way, the pace degraded considerably.
“He lost two places from eighth, but was able to defend 10th and a single point from Alonso in a very tense finish. It was a tough race for both drivers.
“Even though it was only one point, it feels like one of the more difficult points we’ve scored, so well done to the team, and to Felipe and Lance, for all they’ve done this weekend.”
