Sam Michael: Williams’ in midfield where tenths of a second make difference in positions – Formula 1
Williams’ technical director Sam Michael has said that his team is fighting in the midfield where fractions of a second make the difference in final positions.
Talking about the development process of the Williams’ team, Sam stated that some upgrades were used in Turkish Grand Prix and more will be applied in the upcoming back-to-back races in Spain and Monaco.
Sam was talking about his team’s performance in the Turkish GP and said that everything was working well in the car except for the fact that their pit-stop strategy did not pay off.
Sam stated, “We thought this strategy would work out faster than doing the extra stop required for a four-stop strategy. However, we are harder on our rear tyres than some of the other teams, so in hindsight we may have been better to follow the likes of
Renault and gone with a four-stop strategy.”
Every other team which went for a three pit stop strategy during the Turkish GP paid the price as the Pirelli tyre wear was so high that a new set of tyres was required every 15 laps. Jenson Button of the McLaren team paid the price as he was on a three-stop
strategy and was unable to hold on to his position from a fast approaching Mercedes of Nico Rosberg.
Talking about upgrades in the Williams’ car, Sam said, “We only raced the new front wing and rear brake ducts. We had some separation issues with the new rear wing so we decided not to race it. We will have a new diffuser to test in Barcelona.”
Williams’ duo of Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado has not yet managed to score a point in the opening four rounds of the 2011 Formula 1 season. This is the worst start to a season for the nine-time constructors’ champion team, after which some changes
were made to the car and especially to the technical team working on the car.
Nevertheless, Williams’ team will get many opportunities in the upcoming races as the Pirelli tyres have made racing unpredictable in the 2011 season.
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