Australian GP: Mixed qualifying for Kubica and Russell
By Andrew Hooper
March 16 2019
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Mixed
qualifying for Kubica and Russell |
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Qualifying for the 2019
Australian Grand Prix would see the ROKiT Williams racing team fini9sih in
19th and 20th positions with George Russell leading home team-mate Robert
Kubica. The result was where their practice form had placed them in the
times with both drivers been slowest the whole weekend.
But the session would be a very mixed time for the pair with Robert having a
session that would see him make contact with the wall while George's run was
far more straight forward with him simply trying to extract the best from
the car.
In post qualifying interviews Robert would talk about his contact with the
wall blaming it on a surprising improvement ion his feel with the car. He
would find himself, much to his surprise, having more confidence in the
FW42.
Robert would explain by saying: “In quali something strange happened, well
not strange, something positive, but we need to understand the reason.”
“I was struggling with grip and then suddenly when I left the garage in Q1
for my third run I felt much better grip and I could actually drive the car
for the first time today.
“We are probably not getting on with the tyres, but straight away I felt
much better grip. It’s a shame because I made a mistake on the exit of Turn
10, clipping the wall. But that was my first lap where I could drive the
car.
“We had nothing to lose and I felt more grip. Actually I was nearly one
second (ahead) to my lap time before at the exit of Turn 9. It’s not even a
corner Turn 10, but probably exiting Turn 9 I had a bit more grip and it
pushed me a bit wider into 10. It’s a shame but that’s how it is.”
As for why the FW42 of Robert suddenly had an improvement in performance
Robert would add: “We have to go through the data because there is a lot of
difference, probably coming from something that we don’t give enough value
to. It’s really affecting the performance of the car and the feeling of the
car.”
Rookie Williams driver George Russell was also interviewed after the
qualifying session and his comments were far more positive in terms of how
he got the best out of the car but he did indicate that there are still
issues with the FW42.
George said: “I think Barcelona I was probably at 99 percent but today, that
was our maximum potential.”
“I think positively in the sense form my side and engineers was we got the
maximum out of the package we’ve got.
“I was very satisfied to be honest and I think overall the car was very nice
to drive. Myself and my two engineers who are the main focus of getting the
most out of our side of the garage did a really great job.
“All three laps in Q1 I crossed the line with a smile on my face and felt
like I got the most out of it, but obviously overall we want more than that,
and obviously I want to be in the car longer than the first 18 minute of
Q1.”
During this interview George would reveal that there was a “fundamental”
issue with the FW42 the team is trying to understand. But he made it clear
that he didn't think a resolution to the issue was close at hand.
“We understand what that is but it doesn’t mean we can wake up on Monday
morning and rectify it,” Russell explained.
“To change something so fundamental will take months of development and work
in the simulator, the designers working out how to do it, but that’s what
needs to be done at the moment." |
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