The Williams Racing Team showed distinct signs of improvement as both drivers had good practice sessions and qualified well at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Italy. However the team had to leave Imola with no points on the board after both drivers crashed out of the race.
Nicholas Latifi qualified in fourteenth position and started on the intermediate tyres in the damp conditions. The Canadian crashed in the opening lap and brought out the Safety Car. George Russell started in twelfth position and was running in the points when his heavy crash as he tried to overtake Valtteri Bottas brought out the red flags.
Dave Robson, the Head of Vehicle Performance, was understandably disappointed that the positive weekend ended in this way. Robson said: “It’s extremely disappointing to be leaving Imola with neither car having finished the race. We have had a decent weekend throughout, and in tricky conditions today we made good and timely decisions. Although Nicholas found it a little difficult at the start on the Intermediate tyres, he was unfortunate to touch the Haas and crash out.
“George was good on the intermediate tyres and did a great job behind the safety car to keep the car in a good state. As we moved to slick tyres we were in a strong position and although there was still a long way to go, George was comfortable and managing his car and tyres well. We had the pace and speed to overtake Bottas, and had we been able to make the move cleanly we looked set for a strong finish.
We can take a lot of positives from this weekend as the car and drivers have performed well and have been backed up by some excellent work in the garage and in Grove. We missed a good opportunity to score points today, but we got ourselves into a good position on merit and with many races remaining in the season, we should be confident of getting another good opportunity soon.”
The Williams Racing Team will hope that the improved performance will result in some good points as the season progresses.
