British GP : Another disappointing race for Williams

Rubens Barrichello
By Andrew Hooper
July 10 2011

It would be another disappointing race result for the AT&T Williams F1 team in the 2011 British GP. Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado would finish in 13th and 14th. Despite the teams hard work to turn their season around the results are still not coming. There must come a point where they stop developing the FW33 and look to 2012, it just depends at what point the Williams management feel that 2012 is where the real opportunities lie with the partnership with Renault.

British GP Race Review

Qualifying for the fifty two lap 2011 British Grand Prix would see AT&T Williams F1 drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello finish in seventh and fifteenth respectively. In the lead-up to the start the rain would be again falling seeing most of the drivers leave the pits on intermediate tyres. It was reported that half of the circuit would require full wets but near the pits dry tyres would be fine. Tyre choice would be hard as Perez would spin his Sauber on his lap to the grid going off at Becketts, seeing him go back into his pit for repairs to a damaged front wing. As the start of the race drew closer the weather started to improve making the decision regarding tyres even harder. What would the choices be amongst the various teams?

Button was on the intermediates, Alonso and Webber as well. Massa had joined them as well as Vettel. The grid would move away and as the drivers completed the parade lap plumes of spray would come off the cars at the back of the circuit. But on the dry parts the intermediates would burn out very quickly. It was confirmed that the top ten were all on the intermediate tyre for the start. They would line up and the lights would go out with Vettel getting in front of Webber at the start with Alonso third. Button was fourth from Massa and Di Resta. Pastor had dropped to ninth as the cars picked up huge amounts of spray going down the Wellington straight. Hamilton would pass Di Resta going into Stowe under braking. Pastor was passed by Schumacher seeing him drop to tenth. Rubens was down in nineteenth after making a poor start while Button would be passed by both Massa and Hamilton.

By lap two Vettel's lead was 2.3 seconds over Webber with Alonso 2.9 seconds behind Webber. Massa was now fourth from Hamilton, Button, Di Resta, Kobayashi, Schumacher and Pastor in tenth. Kovalainen would retire in his pit with Vettel now 3.4 seconds ahead of Webber. A 1m:50.838 from Vettel on lap three while Pastor was under threat from Sutil. Hamilton would run wide at the Brooklands corner but would come back on without
losing a place. Pastor had lost his tenth place to Sutil seeing him eleventh. Schumacher would say to his engineer that he would be looking at changing to dry tyres in around three laps. The DRS had now been enabled by the race officials with Vettel now leading by 4.6 seconds after lap five. Pastor had quickly dropped away from Sutil, now been 4.3 seconds behind the Force India. Rubens was now eighteenth but with his chances in the rain looking very poor. Both Rosberg and Perez would pass Pastor seeing him now in thirteenth.

The track continued to dry but some parts were still very tricky. Rubens was now attacking Petrov for seventeenth while at the front Vettel was leading by 5.8 seconds after lap seven. Alonso was starting to close the gap to Webber with Webber looking to be struggling with his tyres. A 1m:50.510 from Vettel on lap nine, while Kobayashi would spin seeing him lose two places. Lap ten and Schumacher would pit as Hamilton started to attack Massa. Schumacher had been forced in to get a new front wing forcing him to swap tyres to
the soft dry tyre at the same time. A 1m:49.988 from Webber on lap ten seeing Alonso drop back from Webber. Heidfeld would pit from twelfth. Replays showed Schumacher making contact with Kobayashi. Lap ten and Vettel's lead was now 8.1 seconds while for Williams Rubens was seventeenth and Pastor now thirteenth.

Lap twelve and Button would pit joined by Sutil, Kobayashi, Pastor, Buemi, Petrov, and Rubens. All this happened as a result of Schumacher setting a 1m:49.012 on lap eleven. Webber would pit on lap thirteen followed by Alonso, Hamilton, and Di Resta, Rosberg, Perez, and Alguersuari. Vettel was still leading but yet to pit but he would do so on lap fourteen. He was followed by Massa as Button set a 1m:46.073 on lap thirteen. Schumacher would set a 1m:45.788 on the same lap. Kobayashi was under investigation for an unsafe release in the pit lane that saw him make slight contact with Pastor. The times would tumble with Hamilton setting a 1m:44.017 on lap fourteen. Button would pass Massa for fifth in the run down to Vale. Hamilton would pass Alonso for third going into Copse. Schumacher was also given a stop go penalty for his part in the collision with Kobayashi.

For Williams Pastor was down in fifteenth and Rubens eighteenth. Lap fifteen and Vettel was leading by just 1.2 seconds but Webber was closing in onto his team-mate. A 1m:41.475 from Button on lap sixteen. Schumacher would take to the pits on lap seventeen. Lap seventeen and Vettel had been able to pull out a bigger gap to Webber, 2.4 seconds, while Hamilton was 4.4 seconds behind Webber. Alonso was now fourth from Button, Massa, Di Resta, Sutil, Rosberg, and Perez in tenth. Pastor was fourteenth and Rubens still eighteenth. But Rubens was a second slower than seventeenth placed Schumacher. Pastor was attacking Kobayashi and would pass him at Vale but Kobayashi would retake the position immediately. Pastor would lose a place to Buemi seeing him now fifteenth. Kobayashi would get a penalty for his unsafe release.

Lap twenty one and Vettel was leading by 3.6 seconds over Webber. A 1m:38.761 from Alonso on lap twenty two would see him right behind Hamilton. Alonso would pass Hamilton in the DRS zone and Hamilton would respond by pitting on lap twenty five. DI Resta would also come in followed by Pastor. Sutil would pit on lap twenty six joined by Buemi from twelfth. Di Resta would have to wait as Sutil's tyres had been brought out and had
to be changed. Lap twenty seven and Webber, Button, and Massa would pit. Alonso was flying setting a 1m:37.541 on lap twenty six. Di Resta would pit again from sixteenth. Vettel and Alonso would pit on lap twenty eight. Di Resta's pit stop was as a result of making contact with Buemi. Buemi would have a flat left rear and would try to crawl back to the pits.

But Vettel's pit stop would go wrong as there was a delay changing his left rear tyre, seeing Alonso come out in front of the Red Bull. Buemi would stop out on the track seeing his car lifted away. So we now had Alonso leading from Hamilton, Vettel, Webber, Button, Massa, Rosberg, Perez, Heidfeld, and Alguersuari in tenth. A 1m:37.069 from Alonso on lap twenty seven. Rubens and Pastor were now in fourteenth and fifteenth but both were looking to be lapped very shortly. A 1m:36.803 from Alonso on lap thirty while Rosberg would pit on lap thirty one. Heidfeld would also come in from his ninth. Vettel was now attacking second placed Hamilton as Alonso continued to push with the gap to Hamilton 5.2 seconds. Alguersuari, Schumacher, and Rubens would all pit on lap thirty two. Rubens would again take on another set of option tyres.

Perez would pit from seventh on lap thirty three while as Vettel challenged Hamilton Webber was now right behind Vettel. A 1m:35.769 from Alonso on lap thirty two with his lead out to 8.3 seconds over Hamilton on lap thirty three. Webber had run wide at the exit to Becketts taking to the wet off the side of the track, losing about a second. Pastor was now fourteenth and Rubens now fifteenth. Pastor would pit again on lap thirty six while at the front Vettel would also pit taking on a set of soft tyres. Alonso's lead was now 9.9 seconds over Hamilton but Hamilton would pit on lap thirty eight. Rubens would again be fourteenth and
Pastor fifteenth. For the Williams team it was now just a case of running to the finish while Webber would pit on lap thirty nine. Vettel was fifth and would set a 1m:34.551 on lap thirty six.

Petrov would also pit from tenth while on lap forty Alonso would pit from the lead. Button would also pit coming in from second. But Button's race would end as he would stop just out of the pits. The problem was that the front right tyre had not been secured properly. His race was over as on lap forty one Sutil would pit from eighth. Alonso was now leading Vettel by 10.3 seconds with Hamilton third. Massa would pit from fourth on lap forty two. Rubens and Pastor had moved up to thirteenth and fourteenth. Hamilton was told that he had to move into economy mode for his fuel seeing Webber start to close in on the McLaren. A big lock up from Hamilton going into Vale with Webber just 1.5 seconds behind Hamilton. Alonso's lead was out to 14.5 seconds over Vettel but on the next lap, lap forty five, the lead was 16.1 seconds.

Webber would use his DRS and would easily pass Hamilton, even though Hamilton had an attempt to get back past. The race order was now Alonso from Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Massa, Rosberg, Perez, Heidfeld, Schumacher, and Alguersuari in tenth. Pastor had now been lapped with just five laps remaining in the race. Massa was trying to close the gap to Hamilton while Webber was also closing in onto Vettel. Vettel's lead over Webber was 1.0 seconds after lap fifty. Massa was just 1.7 seconds behind Hamilton as Webber pulled
alongside his team-mate. Webber was really looking to take second place while Massa was looking to pass Hamilton. Vettel would keep Webber behind to hold onto second as Alonso took victory in the race. Vettel was second from Webber. Massa and Hamilton would make contact after Massa went down the outside seeing Hamilton hit the side of the Ferrari. Massa would be forced to run wide seeing Hamilton cross the finish line ahead of the Ferrari. Hamilton was fourth from Massa, Rosberg, Perez, Heidfeld, Schumacher, and Alguersuari taking the last point.

For Williams Rubens and Pastor would finish in thirteenth and fourteenth with Pastor just 0.8 behind Rubens at the finish. What can be said about their performance in the race. It was another race with no points for the Williams team with both cars lapped at the finish. Despite the teams hard work to turn their season around the results are still not coming. There soon must come a point where they stop developing the FW33 and look to 2012, it just depends at what point the Williams management feel that 2012 is where the real
opportunities lie with the partnership with Renault.

Pos  Driver  	    Team		       Time
1.   Alonso         Ferrari                    1h28:41.194       
2.   Vettel         Red Bull-Renault           +    16.511       
3.   Webber         Red Bull-Renault           +    16.947       
4.   Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes           +    28.986       
5.   Massa          Ferrari                    +    29.010       
6.   Rosberg        Mercedes                   +  1:00.665       
7.   Perez          Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:05.590       
8.   Heidfeld       Renault                    +  1:15.542       
9.   Schumacher     Mercedes                   +  1:17.912      
10.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari        +  1:19.108      
11.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes      +  1:19.712      
12.  Petrov         Renault                   +  1:20.600      
13.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth         +  1 lap         
14.  Maldonado      Williams-Cosworth         +  1 lap         
15.  Di Resta       Force India-Mercedes      +  1 lap         
16.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth           +  2 laps        
17.  D'Ambrosio     Virgin-Cosworth           +  2 laps        
18.  Liuzzi         HRT-Cosworth              +  2 laps        
19.  Ricciardo      HRT-Cosworth              +  3 laps        
Fastest lap: Alonso, 1:34.908

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         Gap
Button        McLaren-Mercedes             11
Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari           26
Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari               28
Trulli        Lotus-Renault                41
Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault                49

British GP : Another disappointing race for Williams

Posted by: Williams F1 (IP Logged)

Date: 10/07/2011 15:10

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