Rosberg excited with good home race result
A season-best race result for the AT&T Williams team came courtesy of a strong drive from Nico Rosberg today, driving from 15th on the grid to a valuable fourth placed finish and in turn consolidating the team’s position in the championship.
His race was launched from a great opening lap, on which he climbed six places. His achievement was all the more impressive considering that he was managing a technical problem from the first round of stops to the flag. Team-mate Kazuki Nakajima showed some equally quick turns of speed and recorded the fifth fastest lap of the race, but a tangle on the opening lap dropped him to the back of the field in the first stint, from which point it was difficult to recover his race. He finished in 12th position. All the team congratulates Mark Webber on a very popular race win today.
Nico Rosberg: "It was a fantastic result for us today. As I started 15th, I honestly wasn’t expecting too much but I took a few chances on the opening lap and finished it in 9th place! Although I had more fuel than anyone else, I kept pushing hard and that, together with a little luck that Heikki Kovalanien had created a bit of traffic jam behind him, helped for sure. I was also carrying a problem with the fuel system, so it was quite eventful and makes the race outcome even better. We are continually progressing with our car, our development is looking good and because of this our pace is right up there. I am looking forward to Hungary now, because I think it will be another race where we can have a good result."
Kazuki Nakajima: "My race was really defined by my first lap. I was hit by Jarno and almost went off, but in the process I dropped right to the back of the field. It was a shame because my race was ruined from there. However I think our pace was good today, certainly a pace that would have got us close to the points. Our strategy would have worked well too, but all of this is unimportant now."
Sam Michael, Technical Director: "It was a good day for the team today, the best result so far this year. Nico had a great first lap and did what he needed to do to make his race work. We had a fuel system problem on his car which meant that he had to come in early for both stops and carry 15 kilos of extra fuel from the first stop to the end of the race, which is worth half a second a lap. However, fourth is a great result and what we deserved for our efforts today. Kazuki was quick today too, but just wasn’t in the right place at the right time with the traffic. Having started in 13th and 15th, it is good to have finished fourth and consolidate our place in the championship. Well done to Mark and it was great to hear the Australian national anthem in the paddock."
