Italian GP : Williams F1 GP Debrief
By Williams F1 Team
September 12 2012
Williams F1 Chief Operations Engineer discusses the recent Italian Grand Prix, a race that saw Williams driver Bruno Senna finish in tenth.
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Williams F1
Italian GP
Debrief |
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Bruno Senna's 10th place at Monza on Sunday earned him and the Williams F1
Team a world championship point. Our Chief Operations Engineer Mark Gillan
explains, however, that the team had hoped for more from the 53-lap race.
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer:
Q: How would you sum up the performance of the FW34 at Monza?
MG: Overall our ultimate pace was not quite as strong as we have seen in
some races but it was good to see both drivers pushing hard throughout the
race. Both had good starts and ultimately we finished a combined 14 places
higher than we started, with Bruno securing a point in 10th and Pastor just
behind in P11, having started P22.
Q: How did the dry weather during Friday practice help the team's
preparations?
MG: For the first time in a while we had a completely dry weekend which
allowed us to complete the entire set-up and test programme in preparation
for both qualifying and the race. We evaluated different down-force levels,
mechanical set-ups, fuel levels and tyres on both shorter and longer runs.
Q: How did the knowledge that Pastor would receive a 10-place grid
penalty affect your approach to the weekend with his car?
MG: It didn't affect our approach in any way.
Q: Tyre wear was more of an issue at Monza than many people predicted.
Did you suffer from excessive wear rates on the inside shoulder, like other
teams?
MG: Yes our inner shoulder wear was higher than expected during the weekend
but we were able to manage it during the race.
Q: You split tyre strategies during the race, Bruno doing one stop and
Pastor two. Which was the quicker strategy?
MG: Without the tyre wear limitation a one-stop strategy is quicker around
Monza, but Pastor also picked up a slow puncture during the first stint of
the race which limited what we could do strategy wise with him.
Q: How did the incident between Bruno and Paul di Resta compromise
Bruno's race? MG: Bruno lost quite a lot of time during the incident and
as tyre management was crucial in the race this sort of track excursion was
not good news and can impact lap times throughout a stint.
Q: The Singapore Grand Prix comes next. What can we expect from the FW34
at the Marina Bay circuit?
MG: We turn up to each race expecting to score points and are disappointed
if we are unsuccessful. Singapore is a long hard race and the start of the
seven fly-away races that end the season - the whole team are looking
forward to the race and are keen to deliver a good result. |
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Championship Tables After
13
of 20 Races |
Drivers
1 F Alonso 179
2 L Hamilton 142
3 K Raikkonen 141
4 S Vettel 140
5 M Webber 132
6 J Button 101
7 N Rosberg 83
8 R Grosjean 76
9 S Perez 65
10 F Massa 47 |
Constructors
1 Red Bull Racing-Renault 272
2 McLaren-Mercedes 243
3 Ferrari 226
4 Lotus-Renault 217
5 Mercedes 126
6 Sauber Ferrari 100
7 Force India-Mercedes 63
8 Williams-Renault 54
9 STR-Ferrari 12
10 Caterham-Renault 0 |
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