Sam Michael ends Williams career without points
AT&T Williams finished today’s Singapore Grand Prix in 11th and 13th place with its drivers Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello. From P13, Pastor secured 11th on a three stop strategy, while Rubens concluded the race in 13th from P12 on the grid, a two strategy forcing a long, final stint of tyre conservation.
As Technical Director, Sam Michael, completes his last race for AT&T Williams today, the team thanks him for his contribution over the past 11 seasons.
Sam Michael, Technical Director:
We tried a couple of different things on strategy between the two cars but today we didn’t have enough pace to get into the points. Both the drivers probably got the best out of the car they could. It was a tough race but both FW33s came home with no reliability issues. As that was my last Grand Prix for AT&T Williams, I would like to thank everyone on the race team and at the factory for the last 11 years and to wish them all the best for a bright future.
Pastor Maldonado, FW33‐02 CA421, 11th:
The car had quite a lot of oversteer throughout the race, particularly in the first stint. We tried everything to get rid of it to save the rear tyres but the wear rate forced us to pit early. It didn’t make that much of a difference to our strategy though and it actually worked out well in the end. I managed to get into a good rhythm, especially in the second half when I was able to follow Massa quite consistently. I think the team did well and I’m pleased too because it’s my first time racing in Singapore.
Rubens Barrichello, FW33‐04 CA305, 13th:
We said at the beginning that the tyres would have a hard time. With the safety car deployed when it was, the only option was to stay out to have a chance of scoring points. It was a tough call to do that many laps on the same tyre - and when Massa came up behind me there was nothing I could do. We gave it a go, but it didn’t pay off for us today.
