AT&T Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello finished in 11th and 12th places in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix.
AT&T Williams
Italian GP
Debrief
AT&T Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello finished in
11th and 12th places in Sunday's Italian Grand Prix. The high-speed dash
around Monza could have delivered more for the team, had the drivers not
been delayed by a first corner pile-up. Here's Technical Director Sam
Michael's take on the weekend.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Q: Pastor was the first AT&T Williams driver home in Monza, in 11th
place. How do you sum up the team's race?
SM: We were competitive in the first stint but unfortunately didn’t have the
pace to maintain that after the pitstops.
Q: With two DRS zones at Monza, there was a lot of speculation about wing
levels prior to the race. With hindsight, what was the best solution?
SM: In Monza, the rear wing curve is very flat. This means that there is not
as much difference in lap time between the high and low levels of rear wing.
Although the DRS is an important tool for racing, the most important factor
this weekend appeared to be having the optimum engine revs for the race,
even if that meant compromising some overtaking capability.
Q: The competitiveness of the FW33 improved from Friday to Saturday. What
set‐up changes did you make on Friday night?
SM: We had a lot of tyre blistering on Friday so we tuned the set-up to
minimise that.
Q: Pastor was mystified by his accident at the start of qualifying. Can
you explain what happened?
SM: He was obviously pushing and on quite a good lap, which I was happy
about because it meant having the delay with the KERS issue didn’t seem to
faze him. However, on the exit of Parabolica the rear wheels spun too
quickly for him to react. Initially we thought it was due to him pressing
the DRS too early, but it actually happened after that.
Q: Both drivers made excellent getaways at the start of the race. How
satisfying was that, and are starts an area that the team has worked on in
recent weeks?
SM: We have concentrated on starts a lot recently, particularly on the dyno
as well as during practice sessions at the last few races.
Q: Rubens' race was ruined at Turn 1. How was his pace, once you'd
replaced his front wing?
SM: Overall his pace was good, but on the medium compound tyre at the
beginning of the race we lost a lot of time.
Q: Singapore comes next. What updates is the team taking to the Far East
and what are your hopes for F1's only night race?
SM: We have some upgrades for the diffuser and front wing, going back to
high downforce levels. Our target as always is to score some more points.
Championship Tables After
13
of 19 Races
Drivers
1 S Vettel 284
2 F Alonso 172
3 J Button 167
4 M Webber 167
5 L Hamilton 158
6 F Massa 82
7 N Rosberg 56
8 M Schumacher 42
9 V Petrov 34
10 N Heidfeld 34
Constructors
1 Red Bull Racing 451
2 McLaren 325
3 Ferrari 254
4 Mercedes GP 108
5 Lotus Renault 70
6 Force India 36
7 Sauber 35
8 Toro Rosso 29
9 AT&T Williams 5
10 Team Lotus 0
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