Williams’ Sam Michael says their first points finish of 2011 Formula 1 season quite dramatic
Team Williams’ technical director Sam Michael has termed the Monaco Grand Prix quite dramatic for the team as Rubens Barrichello scored the first points of the season for the team while Pastor Maldonado retired from 6th place.
If Maldonado had finished in 6th place, then the Monaco Grand Prix could have been a wonderful start for the team’s points tally. Nevertheless, Barrichello’s 9th place finish earned the team 2 points but Sam believes that Maldonado’s
performance was nothing short of “excellent” this past weekend.
“It was great for everyone involved to get some points on the board and we must thank Rubens for bringing home our first of the season. It was however, somewhat bittersweet because Pastor was looking good for a big points haul. Rubens as well was perhaps
looking good for an even better result but the first safety car came out and damaged his position significantly,” said Michael.
Other than that, he added that the team has improved its car noticeably now but admitted that Monaco is normally a “lottery” as it is always dramatic and one can expect anything from anyone at anytime. Same was the case this past weekend where a number of
accidents changed the course of the race.
“In the race, I was particularly impressed at the speed we had on the same age of tyres as the top cars. For sure there is still a lot of work to do but we are heading in the right direction,” said the technical director.
Michael believes that the collision between Maldonado and Lewis Hamilton however, was just a racing accident and that it was nothing personal.
Nevertheless, the team’s technical director is hoping for the best for the upcoming race which is expected to take place in two weeks time in Canada. Each race has been quite different from another according to Michael which is going to help the team improve
its performance on a higher note.
The team is hoping to bring in some upgrades for FW33 at the upcoming race which Williams believe will improve their performance even more.
Tags: