Brazilian GP: Disappointing result for Williams


Nico finishes in 8th

By Andrew Hooper
November 7 2010

The 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix would produce a disappointing result for the AT&T Williams team with Nico Hulkenberg only managing an eighth place. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello was down in fourteenth in a race that saw both drivers lapped. Overall both drivers would have their issues during the race that saw them off the pace.

 
 Brazilian GP Race Review

 

AT&T Williams driver Nico Hulkenberg securing pole position for the seventy one lap 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix. Team-mate Rubens Barrichello would start the race from sixth on a day that would again see it dry and sunny. Behind Nico would be the Red Bull's of Vettel and Webber in second and third. Hamilton and Alonso were in fourth and fifth while behind Rubens would be Kubica in seventh followed by Schumacher, Massa, and Petrov in tenth. The top ten would all be starting the race on the super soft Bridgestone slick. The big question for Nico was to be whether or not he can keep the championship contenders behind him now that the track was dry. Nico speaking with the BBC said: "I think we did everything we can to prepare well. I don't want to hurt any of these guys who are racing for the championship, but I have to do my race too."

HulkenbergKlien's HRT was brought back to the pit lane by a tractor with it looking very unlikely that he would start the race. With the grid empty the cars would move off on their parade lap with a Williams in the lead. Nico would return to the grid taking up his pole position spot with the grid forming up behind him. Rubens would take up his sixth place on the grid. The red lights would come on and go out and off the grid would race with Vettel taking the lead in Turn one. Nico was in second but he was quickly passed by Webber as well. Hamilton was fourth behind third placed Nico. Alonso was in fifth but the Ferrari would pass Hamilton going down the main straight but Hamilton would retake fourth into Turn one.

Alonso would pass Hamilton in Turn four when Hamilton ran wide. Lap two and Vettel was 2.0 seconds ahead of Webber with Nico 1.5 seconds behind Webber. A fastest lap of 1m:17.447 for Vettel on lap two. Rubens was down in seventh while Schumacher would pass Button for ninth at Turn one. Alonso was now attacking Nico with Nico driving really well. Vettel continued to extend his lead and on lap four it was 2.3 seconds over Webber. Nico was now 4.0 seconds behind Webber with Alonso right behind him. Rubens was right behind sixth place Kubica. Vettel would continue to set fastest laps as he extended his lead. Hamilton was now right behind Alonso. Third through to tenth were all now running close together. Alonso still could not get by Nico but on lap seven the Ferrari would finally pass Nico running side by side with the Williams.

BarrichelloHamilton was now behind Nico but Nico was not going to make it easy for any of the championship contenders. Alonso was now 11.5 seconds behind Vettel as Hamilton complained of no grip. Nico was still running in fourth and Rubens seventh. Their Constructors championship rivals Force India were down in sixteenth and seventeenth. Hamilton would try and pass Nico at Turn one but Nico would defend strongly not letting the McLaren past. Button would pit on lap twelve taking on the harder tyre having started on the option tyre. Alonso was now 12.5 seconds behind Vettel and 10.0 seconds behind Webber. Lap thirteenth and Massa would pit while Nico continued to keep Hamilton behind him at Turn one. Rubens would also pit on lap fourteen while Massa would pit again. Rubens would have a problem with his right rear tyre delaying his return to the track. Massa would point to his right front tyre indicating a problem.

HulkenbergNico would also pit on lap fifteen joined by Kubica and Heidfeld. Hamilton would continue for another lap while Nico would come out behind Button. Button's early pit stop certainly had put him in a good position. Lap fifteen and Vettel was still leading by 2.4 seconds from Webber and Alonso. Hamilton was still fourth from Schumacher, Rosberg, Buemi, Kobayashi, Sutil, and Petrov in tenth. Button would pass Petrov for tenth with Nico now in twelfth. Rubens was down in seventeenth while on lap nineteen Buemi would pit from eighth. Nico was still stuck behind Petrov while Sutil had moved up to eighth. Petrov would now pit on lap twenty seeing Nico move into tenth. Lap twenty one and Hamilton would pit from fourth, joined by Schumacher. Rubens was now in fourteenth while Hamilton would come back out in front of team-mate Button.

HulkenbergRosberg was now in fourth followed by Kobayashi, Hamilton, Button, Sutil, Schumacher, and Nico in tenth. Sutil had yet to pit joined by the top five. Hamilton was still pushing setting a fastest lap on lap twenty two, 1m:16.658. After the pit stops both Williams cars had lost out badly. Alonso would pit on lap twenty five coming out in front of Rosberg maintaining his third place. Vettel would pit from the lead completing a smooth stop. Hamilton would pass Kobayashi for fifth going into Turn one. Webber would pit the next lap also completing a calm and quick stop. Rosberg was also in the pits stopping from fourth. Rosberg would come back out in front of team-mate Schumacher. Lap twenty seven and a 1m:15.969 from Vettel with his lead out to 2.7 seconds over Webber.

Eighth placed Sutil had still yet to pit while Nico was in tenth and Rubens fourteenth. Button was trying to pass fifth placed Kobayashi with the Sauber driver still yet to pit. He would finally get past going into Turn one under braking. Webber was pushing closing the gap to Vettel to 2.4 seconds after lap thirty two. Rubens would have a left front puncture as a result of a small coming together with Alguersuari going into Turn one. Rubens would pit taking on new super soft tyres. He had nothing to lose been down in eighteenth. But it would be a big ask to see the option tyres last to the finish. Webber was now 2.8 seconds behind Vettel while Nico was under attacking by Kubica. Lap thirty seven and Webber would set a fastest lap with a 1m:15.431 now 2.4 seconds behind Vettel.

BarrichelloLap thirty eight and Webber was now 1.8 seconds behind Vettel after Vettel was held up by Senna. But Webber would not be helped by Senna either with Vettel's lead now up to 2.9 seconds after lap thirty nine. Alonso was still fourth from Hamilton, Button, Rosberg, Kobayashi, Sutil, Schumacher, and Nico still in tenth. Rubens had now been lapped in what was now a totally disappointing race for him. Seventh and eighth had still yet to pit which would see Nico at best finishing in eighth. IT could be seventh if he can close in and pass Schumacher. The gap between the two Red Bull's opened and closed as they moved through traffic. Lap forty five and Webber was now 1.5 seconds behind Vettel as the Red Bulls' closed into onto lapped traffic. Vettel would pass Massa while Webber would close in onto Massa and pass him on the main straight.

It was all coming down to now quickly Vettel and Webber could get past the traffic. Lap forty nine and Kobayashi would finally pit with Vettel's lead out to 2.5 seconds. Nico had now moved up to ninth while Liuzzi would crash at Turn two with his badly damaged car in a position that would see the Safety Car deployed. Sutil would now pit while Hamilton would also come in. Heidfeld, Massa, and Petrov would also come into the pits. Rosberg had also pitted from sixth seeing Nico move up to eighth.

HulkenbergButton would also pit stopping from fifth. Button would take on the super soft tyre for his run to the flag. With Vettel leading there was two cars between him and team-mate Webber. Despite there stops Hamilton and Button were still in fourth and fifth. Rosberg would pit again taking on the super soft tyre. Nico remained in eighth place as the Safety Car came in.

Vettel would lead at the start while Webber would pass Kubica. Lap fifty six and a 1m:14.901 from Vettel with his lead out to 3.0 seconds over Webber. Lap fifty eight and Vettel continued to push setting another fastest lap with a 1m:14.503 to now be 3.3 seconds in the lead. Nico was still in eighth but a lap down. Massa would try to pass Buemi but they would make contact at the end of the back straight and Massa would run wide onto the asphalt run-off area. Lap sixty and a 1m:14.396 from Vettel to now be 4.4 seconds ahead of Webber. With seven laps remaining it was looking like Vettel would take victory as he was now 4.2 seconds ahead of Webber. Now it would be Alonso's turn to push closing the gap to Webber to 3.7 seconds. By lap sixty seven it was down to 2.4 seconds.

BarrichelloVettel would cross the line with three laps remaining with a 3.9s lead over Webber. Alonso was 2.3s behind Webber in third. Hamilton was still in fourth from Button, Rosberg, Schumacher, Nico, Kubica, and Kobayashi in tenth. Vettel would start his final lap which he would comfortably complete to take victory in the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix. With Webber second Red Bull would win the constructors championship. Alonso was third with the final positions remaining unchanged. Nico would come home in eighth in what was must have been a frustrating race for the Williams team to see just Nico score an eight place finish. Rubens was down in fourteenth in a day that saw his race go wrong when he suffered a problem in his pit stop. Nico would also suffer as a result of the pit stops. But overall did Saturday's qualifying for Williams give them unrealistic hopes for the race.

 
Pos  Driver  	   Team		  	      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h33:11.803
 2.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +     4.243
 3.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +     6.807
 4.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    14.634
 5.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    15.593
 6.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +    35.300
 7.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    43.400
 8.  Hulkenberg    AT&T Williams-Cosworth     +     1 lap
 9.  Kubica        Renault                    +     1 lap
10.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
11.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
12.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
13.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
14.  Massa         Ferrari                    +     1 lap
15.  Petrov        Renault                    +     1 lap
16.  Barrichello   AT&T Williams-Cosworth     +     1 lap
17.  Heidfeld      Sauber-Ferrari             +     1 lap
18.  Kovalainen    Lotus-Cosworth             +    2 laps
19.  Trulli        Lotus-Cosworth             +    2 laps
20.  Glock         Virgin-Cosworth            +    2 laps
21.  Senna         HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps
22.  Klien         HRT-Cosworth               +    6 laps

Fastest lap: Hamilton, 1:13.851

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Di Grassi     Virgin-Cosworth              63
Liuzzi        Force India-Mercedes         50

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Brazilian GP: Disappointing result for Williams
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 07/11/2010 17:52
Williams F1
07/11/2010 17:52
What do you think? You can have your say by posting below.
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FormulaFan
07/11/2010 18:29
In the end I wondered if Williams would get points at all as it was kind of ironic how fast the drivers dropped through the field.

Xerro
07/11/2010 18:52
The classification is wrong, Rubens finished 14th, Petrov and Massa touched Rubens nipped past Petrov then squeezed Massa outwide. Another lap he would of had Buemi.

LiXiQing
07/11/2010 21:35
Nothing disappointing would happen. I foretold Nico would be out of the race at all and Rubens would secure p10. It happened not so much but better than I had predicted.

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