New components push Barrichello to P6
With dependable progression for both Williams drivers into Q3 in recent races, today’s session was positive for Rubens Barrichello and frustrating for Nico Hulkenberg in equal measure. Rubens secured a season best P6 while Nico failed to make it into Q3 due to traffic on his flying laps.
Rubens Barrichello, FW32 04 – CA222:
"First of all I’d like to say thanks to the team for bringing new components to this race which have worked. Of course expectations were pretty high, but I think we have matched our ambition today and we have the basis for a good race tomorrow."
Nico Hulkenberg, FW32 01 – CA223:
"It was a totally frustrating session for me tonight. It’s pretty inexplicable, the car has been good all weekend long and we have been consistently in the top ten very comfortably. On the first run in Q2 on prime tyres, I got backed up by Sutil, then there was a yellow flag. So when I boxed for options I was still confident we could bank a good lap, but the car balance was like night and day. I am not sure if we had a problem, but we will fight on. Although overtaking is not easy, incidents do occur here, so possibilities still exist and the car remains fast"
Sam Michael, Technical Director:
"It was a great qualifying performance from Rubens tonight, showing that the improvements that we have on his car are working well. Unfortunately Nico missed Q3 by less than a tenth - such a shame because he's been quick all weekend. But it's not over yet and a street circuit can throw up many surprises in the race."
