Maldonado in 6th as Senna is caught out by rain
Williams' Pastor Maldonado qualified sixth for tomorrow's German Grand Prix with a time of 1:43.950 in changeable conditions at the Hockenheimring. Bruno Senna qualified in 16th showing solid pace in Q1 before the rain in Q2 prevented him from setting a time that could challenge the top 10.
The Williams-Renault FW34 has shown good pace this week in both wet and dry conditions and the team is looking to get both cars home in the points in tomorrow’s race.
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer:
"Both drivers had a pretty strong FP3 session this morning but qualifying was dominated by the changeable weather conditions, with the first session run in the dry, the second starting on intermediate tyres and finishing on full wets and the final Q3 session run on the full wets. Pastor was consistent throughout each session, struggling a little more with the car's balance in the full wet conditions, but ultimately finishing strongly in sixth. Bruno easily progressed from Q1 into Q2 but found the car more difficult to handle in the intermediate/full wet conditions, finishing in 16th. The weather forecast predicts a dry race and we will be working hard to get both cars home in the points."
Pastor Maldonado:
"The weather conditions today were really challenging with the grip levels changing so much between sessions. We had a good balance in Q1 and Q2 but when the rain hit I lost a lot of grip which made it difficult to challenge for a place on the front two rows. On the whole though I’m pretty pleased with where I have qualified and the weather is looking a bit more favourable tomorrow which should suit our car."
Bruno Senna:
"We had a good pace in dry conditions so it’s disappointing to find ourselves in 16th place. When the weather is like it was today it’s always a bit of a lottery because being on track at the right time is crucial and unfortunately I was a bit unlucky in that respect. It will be difficult to get up into the top 10 from where we are because overtaking is not that easy on this track, but our long run pace has been good all year so I have a chance of scoring some points."
