Q+A with Williams' Mark Gillan
Williams F1 added six points to its constructors' championship tally at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, when Bruno Senna finished in seventh place. Chief Operations Engineer Mark Gillan gives us his thoughts on the race ahead of the upcoming mandatory summer shut-down.
How would you sum up the competitiveness of the Williams-Renault FW34 at the Hungaroring? "Both cars were competitive throughout the weekend in all conditions and it was very pleasing to have the two drivers competing in Q3 for the first time this season. We will continue to push the development of the FW34 throughout the season, aiming to consistently get the cars into Q3 and then to build on this with regular points finishes for both drivers."
There was a big difference in straight-line speed between Bruno and Pastor. Why was that? "As with most things it is never one single reason, but more a collection of differences between the two cars that lead to the speed delta. "
Bruno was fast all weekend. How would you sum up his performance, and do you view this race as a turning point for him? "Bruno did an excellent job this weekend and this was the strongest that he has been for Williams. He was clearly happy and confident within the car and we look forward to seeing Bruno build on this performance going forward into the latter half of the season."
Pastor had a frustrating race, losing four places at the start and then serving a drive through penalty. How do you assess his weekend? "As usual Pastor was strong in qualifying and despite a poor race start, which was due to excessive wheel spin, he pushed hard throughout the race, ultimately finishing out of the points in P13 following his drive through penalty. One of Pastor's key strengths is his mental toughness and he has already 'moved-on' and is preparing diligently for the remaining races."
The team set its fastest pitstop of the year during the race. How fast was it, and how satisfying was it to record that time? "The crew achieved a sub three-second stop which is extremely satisfying for the whole team. We need to keep pushing with our training regime, process and equipment as other teams have also moved the goalposts in terms of target times. We have a clear 'road map' on how to reduce these to low-to-mid two second times and we have a very competitive 20+ strong pit crew who want to be consistently leading the pit stop times."
The Belgian Grand Prix comes next at the beginning of September. How do you expect the FW34 to perform at Spa-Francorchamps? "We expect to be strong in all of the forthcoming races and look forward to the tightly packed remaining nine races, four of which are back-to-back."
