Australian GP: Double DNF for Williams


Williams Team Logo

By Andrew Hooper
March 27 2011

The results for the 2011 Australian Grand Prix would see a double DNF for the AT&T Williams team. Pastor Maldonado was to retire pulling off to the side of the track early in the race while for Rubens Barrichello it was a race that would see him take to the gravel at the start of the race, hit the side of Rosberg's car, followed by retirement in the pits. Not the start of the season Williams had hoped for!

 
 Australian GP Race Review
 
Barrichello
 

With their drivers starting the fifty eight lap 2011 Australian Grand Prix from fifteenth and
seventeenth the AT&T Williams team was going to have a difficult race in terms of achieving a good result. Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello would start the race from fifteenth and seventeenth. There would be a minutes silence prior to the race in memory of the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. At the front of the grid Vettel was on pole followed by Hamilton, Webber, Button, Alonso, Petrov, Rosberg, Massa, Kobayashi, and Buemi in tenth. The big unknown for all was the strategy that the various teams would use in the race, the number of pit stops. There was also the return of KERS, the moveable rear wing, and the new Pirelli tyres and their effect in the race were yet to be seen.

Neither of the HRT cars would start the race as they failed to meet the 107% rule. The weather was fine for the start with the track temperatures higher than previous days. At the front those drivers would start the race of the soft tyre, the one they qualified on. The grid would move away on their parade lap with most of the drivers on the softer tyre. The grid would form and the lights would go out and it would be Vettel leading. Hamilton would make it past Webber at Turn one. A Williams would go into the gravel while Vettel was leading from Hamilton, Webber, Petrov, Massa, Button, and Rosberg. The drivers can not use their moveable rear wing until the first two laps are complete.

Lap one and Vettel was leading by 2.4 seconds. Pastor was in sixteenth and Rubens twentieth. Alguersuari would pit for a front nose followed by Schumacher with a punctured right rear tyre. Lap two and a fastest lap from Vettel, 1m:33.006. Button was attacking Massa for fifth. Rubens had moved up to seventeenth while Button continued to challenge Massa. A 1m:32.713 from Vettel while Button had used his rear wing but it did not help him pass Massa. Lap four and Hamilton was fastest, 1m:32.582. Replays showed that it was Rubens who left the track at the start. Rubens was moving forward quickly get past his team-mate and Kovalainen to be fifteenth while on lap five Vettel sets a 1m:32.342.
 
Barrichello
 
Alonso was now seventh having passed Rosberg. Rubens would pass Perez for fourteenth while Pastor would pass Kovalainen for sixteenth. Button could not find a way past Massa as on lap eight Hamilton was fastest with a 1m:32.310. Alonso was starting to close in onto Button. Buemi would pass Di Resta for tenth while Sutil was twelfth and Heidfeld thirteenth. Rubens was now right behind Heidfeld. Hamilton was 2.2 seconds behind Vettel with Webber 4.5 seconds behind the McLaren. Webber had reported that his rears were starting to go. Vettel would also announce on his radio that he was having the same problem.

Lap ten and Vettel was leading by 2.7 seconds while for the Williams team they would lose one driver when Pastor would pull off the track at Turn nine to retire. Webber would pit on lap twelve seeing Petrov move up to third. Webber would take on the harder tyre. Rubens was still in fourteenth. Button had used the run-off area at Turn eleven to get pass Massa while Alonso would pass Massa. Alonso would pit on lap thirteen taking on the softer tyre. Button would say that he felt that he had track position and that Massa had forced him wide. Lap fourteen and Massa would pit taking on the soft tyres. He was joined by Rubens. The incident between Massa and Button was now under investigation. Vettel would pit on lap fifteen.

Vettel would come out behind Button while Button was given a drive through for exceeding the track limits. Di Resta had also pitted while at the front Hamilton was leading from Petrov, Button, Vettel, Rosberg, Webber, Kobayashi, and Sutil. Vettel would pass Button while on lap fifteen Alonso was fastest with a 1m:31.904. Hamilton would pit on lap sixteen joined by Petrov. Soft tyres for Hamilton while Rosberg, Kobayashi, and Sutil had also pitted. Lap sixteen and a 1m:31.548 from Vettel on the fresh tyres followed by a 1m:30.800 on the next lap. Rubens was now fourteenth as Button took his drive through. Kovalainen would run wide at Turn one pitting at the end of the lap.
 
Maldonado
 
Schumacher would pit on lap nineteen for his second stop. Vettel was now leading Hamilton by 6.5 seconds with Webber third. Petrov was fourth followed by Alonso, Button, Massa, Perez, Rosberg, and Kobayashi. Button would make a pit stop on lap twenty taking on the softer tyre. Vettel was now leading by 7.0 seconds. With all the stops Rubens had moved up to eleventh. But he would get pass Buemi to take tenth spot. Kovalainen would retire on lap twenty two. Rubens would continue his move forward taking Kobayashi for ninth. Schumacher would pit to retire in his garage.

Lap twenty three and Rubens was looking to pass Rosberg but in a dive down the inside at Turn three Rubens would make contact with the sidepod of the Mercedes car. Rubens would spin but was able to continue pitting at the end of the lap to take on a new nose. Rosberg would pull off the track to retire with smoke having been seen coming from his car. Lap twenty four and Vettel was leading by 7.2 seconds with Webber a further twenty seconds behind Hamilton. Button would pass Kobayashi using the moveable rear wing (DRS) going down into Turn one. Rubens was now one lap down in fifteenth. Any chance of Rubens securing a points finish was now gone. Vettel was leading from Hamilton, Webber,
Petrov, Alonso, Massa, Button and Kobayashi.

Webber would pit on lap twenty seven taking on the softer tyre. Buemi was ninth with Sutil tenth, di Resta eleventh, Heidfeld twelfth, Perez thirteenth, and Alguersuari fourteenth. Alonso would pit on lap twenty eight taking on the softer tyre. Rubens would get a drive through penalty for his part in the accident with Rosberg. Rubens would take his penalty while lap thirty would see Alonso fastest with a 1m:30.097. Hamilton was 9.1 seconds behind Vettel with Petrov still third. Eleventh placed Heidfeld would pit on lap thirty two. Rubens would come back out still in fifteenth while Massa would pit on lap thirty two taking on the harder tyre. Alonso continued to show some pace been fastest on lap thirty one, and was now just 1.8 seconds behind Webber.

Hamilton would run wide at Turn one rejoining the circuit. Kobayashi would pit seeing Massa move up to seventh. Hamilton would suffer some damage to his undertray with front grinding on the ground. On lap thirty six Vettel would pit from the lead followed by Hamilton and Petrov. All three would take on the hard tyre. Sixth placed Button would pit on lap thirty eight, taking on the hard tyres. Vettel was still leading from Hamilton, Webber, Alonso, Petrov, and Massa. Di Resta would pit from ninth returning in twelfth. Perez was in eighth as Alonso tried using his DRS to pass Webber but it had no effect. Lap thirty nine and a fastest lap from Perez, 1m:29.962. Rubens was still running in fifteenth 7.8 seconds behind Alguersuari.
 
Maldonado
 
Webber would pit on lap forty two releasing Alonso. A soft set of tyres for Webber as Rubens would also take to the pits for the fourth time. Webber would run wide at Turn three while Alonso would pit on lap forty three seeing him return in front. Webber was really pushing attacking Alonso, looking to pass at Turn one. Webber would set a 1m:29.686 on lap forty four as he continued to follow Alonso. Lap forty five and Vettel was leading by 11.5 seconds from Hamilton and Petrov. Petrov was 12.7 seconds in front of Alonso and Webber. Massa was sixth from Button, Perez, Kobayashi, and Buemi in tenth.

Lap forty eight and Button would pass Massa at Turn one to take sixth while at the end of the lap Massa would pit. Team-mate Alonso would go fastest on lap forty nine, 1m:29.487. Massa would return in tenth. We had the two Sauber's running in seventh and eighth. For Williams Rubens was still in fifteenth just looking to make it to the finish. Alonso was closing in onto third placed Petrov with the gap 5.4 seconds after lap fifty one. Rubens would pit on lap fifty two to retire. A double DNF for Williams, not the start to the year that the team wanted. Massa was right behind ninth placed Buemi but the Torro Rosso driver was now going to make it easy.

Lap fifty three and Vettel was now leading by 14.1 seconds. The gaps were such that there would be little opportunity for any change. The only fight was between Buemi and Massa. Massa would pass Buemi at Turn one with a clean pass helped by his DRS. Four laps remaining and Alonso had closed in onto Petrov just slightly. But there really was now enough laps to allow him to look at passing with just two laps now left in the race. Vettel would start his last lap leading the race easily and would complete it to take victory in the 2011 Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton was second with Petrov an excellent third. Alonso was fourth followed by Webber, Button, Perez, Kobayashi, Massa, and Buemi. A great result from the Sauber drivers and a very disappointing on from Williams with both drivers retiring.

After having achieved good reliability in per-season testing it must have been very frustrating to see both Williams cars retire. Rubens incident with Rosberg was very ambitious on the part of Rubens especially a driver with his experience. Had he not hit Rosberg his race result may have been very different, maybe even a points finish.
 
Barrichello
  
Pos  Driver  	   Team		  	      Time
 1.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           1h29:30.259
 2.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    22.297
 3.  Petrov        Renault                    +    30.560
 4.  Alonso        Ferrari                    +    31.772
 5.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    38.171
 6.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +    54.300
 7.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:05.800
 8.  Kobayashi     Sauber-Ferrari             +  1:16.800
 9.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:25.100
10.  Buemi         Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
11.  Sutil         Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
12.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +     1 lap
13.  Alguersuari   Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +     1 lap
14.  Heidfeld      Renault                    +     1 lap
15.  Trulli        Lotus-Renault              +    2 laps
16.  D'Ambrosio    Virgin-Cosworth            +    3 laps

Fastest lap: Massa, 1:28.947

Not classified/retirements:

Driver        Team                         On lap
Glock         Virgin-Cosworth              50
Barrichello   Williams-Cosworth            49
Rosberg       Mercedes                     22
Kovalainen    Lotus-Renault                19
Schumacher    Mercedes                     19
Maldonado     Williams-Cosworth            10
 

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Australian GP: Double DNF for Williams
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 27/03/2011 08:53
Williams F1
27/03/2011 08:53
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Ozzy Osbone
27/03/2011 16:23
Shame, the car looked quick in places. What is it about that corner which makes driver dive in from so far back? A rare mistake from Ruby.

Better luck next time. As ever, Williams need to pull it all together at one time.

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