Portuguese GP: Challenging race for Williams Racing
By Williams Racing
May 3 2021
Despite having an encouraging qualifying for the 2021 Portuguese GP the Williams Racing Team would go onto suffer a race that was so incredibly challenging for both George Russell and Nicholas Latifi. The pair would finish in 16th and 18th after a race that saw both drivers suffer from issues with the FW43B while running in traffic. The track conditions on the day brought out the performance issues that the car still appears to have. With just a week before the next race it is going to difficult for the team to address these but it may be a case that the next track maybe one that will suit the Williams cars, if not it is going to be another difficult weeeknd.
Williams Racing Portuguese GP
Race Review
Race Notes
• George Russell finished 16th and Nicholas Latifi 18th in the
Portuguese Grand Prix
• George started 11th and Nicholas 18th, both on the medium Pirelli tyre
• Both drivers ran a one-stop strategy, with Nicholas pitting for the
hard compound on lap 24 and George following suit on lap 28.
Nicholas Latifi:
"It was difficult out there today. We always struggle with the
opening laps and that was evident with George starting much higher up
and then after the first few laps he was back where I was. It feels very
on edge and we need to do some analysis to try and find a solution.
There is definitely something we are missing at the moment, and we need
to try and improve it ahead of Barcelona."
George Russell:
"After yesterday we were all hoping for more, but that was an
incredibly challenging race. Our car does not suit these conditions,
when the wind picks up it becomes a real struggle. It’s a shame but the
positives are that we know the strengths and the weaknesses of the car,
and so we just have to hope that moving forward we get some slightly
calmer conditions which allow us to demonstrate those strengths."
Dave Robson, Head of Vehicle Performance:
"Today was very difficult and we simply didn’t have the pace. We found
it difficult in the conditions today and although we held our position
at the start, it was much more difficult on the medium tyre following
the early safety car. The car has shown some good traits this weekend,
but we are still lacking the stability that we need to be able to race
in the pack. With the tyres hard to keep in their working window, once
you start losing places, it is very difficult to recover.
We now have a quick turnaround to get the team to Barcelona ready for
the next race. It will be interesting to see how the car behaves at a
circuit that we know well."
Track: Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain
Lap Length: 5.412 km / 3.363 miles
Weather: Hot and gusty temperatures
Temperature: Air: 21°C Track: 26-29°C
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