Williams F1
Monaco GP : First points for AT&T Williams F1
Rubens in ninth
By Andrew Hooper
May 29 2011
The 2011 Monaco Grand Prix would see the AT&T Williams F1 team score their first points of the season with Rubens Barrichello finishing in ninth. But it could have been so much more as team-mate Pastor was running in sixth but would make contact with Hamilton at Ste Devote seeing Pastor crash into the barriers. A great drive from Pastor ruined by a questionable move by Hamilton. A great drive from Rubens to bring his car home in what was a race of many incidents.
| Monaco GP Race Review |
 |
|
For the AT&T
Williams F1 team the seventy eight lap Monaco Grand Prix would be another
opportunity for the team to score their first points of the season. Pastor
Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello had qualified ninth and twelfth for the
race but with Hamilton's having his time qualifying disallowed Pastor would
start the race from eleventh. Pastor would start the race on the super soft
tyres while Rubens would be on the softer ones. The big topic of discussion
was the crash of Perez in the final period of qualifying. Perez would not
|
 |
|
Massa was running right behind
Rosberg as reports came back saying that Hamilton's tyres were ok. Pastor
had dropped away from Massa and was running by himself. Hamilton was running
behind Schumacher with Rubens 1.3 seconds behind Hamilton. Lap seven and
Vettel's lead was remaining around 4.6 seconds over Button. Hamilton was
attacking Schumacher with Rubens keeping watch behind the pair. Lap eight
and a 1m:19.327 from Alonso, running in third. Webber was now 2.5 seconds
behind the Ferrari with Rosberg 6.5 seconds behind Webber. At the front
Button was starting to match Vettel's pace with Vettel's lead now 4.2
seconds. Hamilton would finally get past Schumacher at Ste Devote in a bold
move. Schumacher would come so close to hitting the barrier as he was forced
to give room to Hamilton. Pastor was now running close behind Massa as Rubens started to look at passing Schumacher. Lap eleven and Vettel's lead was now 4.1 seconds. Rubens would make a great move passing Schumacher going down into Mirabeau. Rubens was now in tenth as Schumacher pitted on lap thirteen. He would get a new nose taking on another set of super soft tyres. Fifth place Rosberg had Massa, Pastor, Petrov, and Hamilton right behind him. Massa would make contact with the rear tyre of Rosberg's car removing part of his front wing. But Massa would pass Rosberg in the run going into Tabac. Pastor would also get past Rosberg going around the swimming pool complex. Pastor was now sixth and Rubens tenth. Button would pit on lap sixteen, taking on the super soft tyres. Rosberg would also pit and on the next lap Vettel would pit taking on the prime tyre in what looked like confusion with the pit crew as the brought other tyres out. Webber would also pit also taking on the soft tyres after what was a lengthy stop wrecking his afternoon. Lap seventeen and Alonso would pit from the lead taking on the soft tyres, the same choice as Red Bull. Button was now leading with Vettel second from Alonso, Massa, and Pastor now in fifth. Petrov was sixth from Hamilton, Rubens, Di Resta, and Kobayashi in tenth. Rosberg and Schumacher were in nineteenth and twentieth. It was confirmed that both of the Red Bull cars had received the correct tyres. Lap nineteen and Button was leading by 7.5 seconds from Vettel. Fourth placed Massa was the first driver yet to stop as Di Resta pitted from ninth on lap twenty one. |
 |
|
Hamilton was attacking sixth
placed Petrov as team-mate Button extended his lead to 9.7 seconds over
Vettel. Lap twenty three and Hamilton would pit from seventh with his
mechanics not ready for him, rushing to get his tyres out to his car. A 9.7
second stop would see Hamilton's day ruined as he went back out on the super
soft tyre. Pastor was now in fifth and Rubens seventh. Pastor was 10.3
seconds behind Massa and Rubens 2.1 seconds behind Petrov. Lap twenty four and Button was now leading by 11.6 seconds over Vettel. Trulli would pit from twelfth on lap twenty six as Pastor also came in for his first stop. he would come out on the prime tyre after a great pit stop by his mechanics. Lap twenty seven and Massa would pit from fourth as Pastor came back out behind Hamilton. Rubens was now fifth and right behind fourth placed Petrov. Button was now leading by 14.6 seconds from Vettel, Alonso, Petrov, Rubens, Kobayashi, Sutil, Heidfeld, Buemi, and Webber in tenth. Pastor was now in thirteenth as on lap twenty nine Petrov pitted from fourth. A slow get away from the Renault returning on the prime tyre. Pastor was now in twelfth as we had Buemi, Webber, Massa, and Hamilton all running close together. Fourth to eighth had yet to make their first stop with Rubens in fourth 64.8 seconds behind third placed Alonso. Glock would park his car with right rear suspension damage near the swimming pool area well off line. Rubens would pit on lap thirty four joined by Button. Button would take on another set of super soft's, indicating that he will have to stop again. Heidfeld and Buemi would pit on lap thirty four as Hamilton and Massa would make contact at the hairpin with parts coming off both cars. Further around the lap and Massa would crash heavily while Schumacher would stop just near the pit entry. Alonso would have to take avoiding action. It was shown that Hamilton and Massa were side by side in the tunnel with Massa running wide and onto the marbles and into the barrier. He would run down the barrier with his car heavily damaged, coming out down near the chicane. Schumacher would retire his car after being pushed into the pit lane. While all this was happening the Safety Car was out as Massa's car was recovered. Lap thirty six and Vettel was leading Button. Alonso was third from Kobayashi, Webber, Hamilton, Pastor, Petrov, Heidfeld, Buemi, and Rubens in twelfth. Rubens was now one lap behind as the cars continued to run behind the Safety Car. The Safety Car would come in at the end of lap thirty eight. Button was right behind Rubens and Rubens would pull out of the way letting him passed as he was lapped. |
 |
|
As they started lap forty
Vettel was leading by 4.0 seconds over Button. There was an investigation
for the incident between Massa and Hamilton. Now that he was in clean air
Button would cut Vettel's lead down to 2.3 seconds. Alonso was now 5.7
seconds behind Button. Hamilton was attacking Webber for sixth while Button
was now right behind Vettel. Eighth placed Pastor was running by himself as
it was announced that Hamilton would
Lap fifty seven and Alonso was now right behind Vettel. Hamilton was
attacking Pastor for eighth. Webber had come back out in seventh as Button
close the gap to Alonso to 5.3 seconds on lap fifty eight. Pastor was now
4.3 seconds behind Webber and looking to keep his eighth place. With Button
closing in onto Alonso the top three wee now running close together as
Hamilton dropped away from Pastor, the gap was 1.1 seconds after lap |
 |
|
Kobayashi would pass Sutil for fourth passing
him going into Mirabeau. Petrov was right behind Sutil with Pastor 1.3
seconds behind Petrov. Webber would pass Sutil going past the swimming pool.
Sutil was now sixth from Petrov, Pastor, Hamilton, and Heidfeld in tenth.
Rubens was 14.2 seconds behind Heidfeld. Alonso would make a small mistake
at the chicane seeing Vettel pull out a small lead. But the leaders were
coming up onto a group of back markers. The back markers were so busy sorting themselves out that there would be a series of accident as they went through the swimming pool complex. The leaders would make it through but we would have Petrov and Alguersuari into the barriers. Hamilton was running with a broken rear wing. The start of the incident would see Sutil would ht the barrier having a right rear flat seeing Alguersuari run up over the rear of Hamilton's car as Hamilton looked to avoid Sutil. Petrov would also go into the barrier having no where else to go. While this was happening Pastor had passed Sutil going into Tabac just prior to Sutil hitting the barrier. Rubens would pit coming back out in tenth. As a result of the multiple accidents the race would be red flagged with the ambulance attending to Petrov. With six laps remaining the cars would all make there way back to the grid and stop. Pastor was in sixth and Rubens tenth. It was announced that the race would be resumed once the track was cleared. As the race was started McLaren could look at replacing Hamilton's rear wing. His mechanics were at the back of his car carrying out repairs. Petrov was removed from his car and taken away via ambulance. Reports came back saying that Petrov was ok and that he had minor bruising to his legs. A front wing was rushed to the grid for McLaren's car. The McLaren mechanics would try to change the endplates of his rear wing rather than change the whole rear wing. They would replace one but it was touch and go as to whether they could finish the work but they would much to Hamilton's relief. The crash site was cleared as the drivers got ready for the re-start. The re-start would be behind the Safety Car staring lap seventy two. This would give them seven laps to run to finish the race. Vettel, Alonso, and Button had all taken on the super soft tyre for the re-start. The field would move off and complete their lap and the Safety Car would pull off and Vettel was off with Button missing the re-start being quite some distance away from Alonso. But for Williams it would all go wrong when Pastor and Hamilton would make contact going into Ste Devote. Pastor would hit the barrier ending his race and the points for sixth. His car would be cleared quickly allowing the race to continue without delay. Rubens was now ninth but only in line for a few points. The incident involving Hamilton and Pastor was under investigation. Vettel was leading Alonso with Button third. Kobayashi was now fourth from Webber, Hamilton, Sutil, Heidfeld, Rubens, and Buemi. Webber would pass Kobayashi at the chicane taking fourth. Kobayashi would miss the chicane but had to give the place back to Webber. Vettel would start the final lap and would complete it taking victory in the 2011 Monaco Grand Prix. Alonso was second from Button, Webber, Kobayashi, Hamilton, Sutil, Heidfeld, Rubens, and Buemi in tenths. For the Williams team Rubens would come home with two points to score the teams first points of the season. But it could have been so much more for Williams with Pastor's sixth place been lost in the closing laps. For Pastor it was a race that saw him put in a great drive not putting a foot wrong. Pastor should take a lot of pride in his efforts in the race. Not forgetting Rubens who despite not having the same pace as Pastor was at least able to bring his car home and score those valuable points for the Williams team. As for Hamilton's move even if he is given a time penalty it will not impact the race result as the cars following him were a lap behind the leading group. |
 |
Pos Driver Team Time 1. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 2h09:38.373 2. Alonso Ferrari + 1.138 3. Button McLaren-Mercedes + 2.378 4. Webber Red Bull-Renault + 23.100 5. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari + 26.900 6. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes + 27.200 7. Sutil Force India-Mercedes + 1 lap 8. Heidfeld Renault + 1 lap 9. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth + 1 lap 10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari + 1 lap 11. Rosberg Mercedes + 1 lap 12. Di Resta Force India-Mercedes + 2 laps 13. Trulli Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 14. Kovalainen Lotus-Renault + 2 laps 15. D'Ambrosio Virgin-Cosworth + 2 laps 16. Liuzzi HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 17. Karthikeyan HRT-Cosworth + 3 laps 18. Maldonado Williams-Cosworth + 5 laps Fastest lap: Webber, 1:16.234 Not classified/retirements: Driver Team On lap Petrov Renault 68 Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 68 Massa Ferrari 33 Schumacher Mercedes 33 Glock Virgin-Cosworth 31 Perez Sauber-Ferrari 1 |
 |
Digg
Delicious
Facebook
Reddit
Stumbleupon29/05/2011 15:37
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
More Williams F1 headlines
- Williams F1 Team reveals celebrations for 50th anniversary
- Singapore GP: Race sees Williams F1 Team let down by issues
- Singapore GP: MIxed Saturday for Atlassian Williams F1 Team
- Singapore GP: Sprint Qualifying frustrations for Williams F1
- Singapore GP: Atlassian Williams F1 Team Grand Prix Preview
- Bahrain GP: Race of issues for Williams F1 Team
- Bahrain GP: Mixed qualifying for Atlassian Williams F1 Team
- Bahrain GP: Difficult Friday for Atlassian Williams F1 Team
- Bahrain GP: Atlassian Williams F1 Team Grand Prix Preview