Double DNF disappoints Williams
After showing promising pace throughout the entire weekend, Williams F1 failed to get a car to the finish. Both Maldonado as well as Senna suffered from mechanical failures on their FW34 at times when they were both running in the points.
• Pastor Maldonado made a great start and was racing for a podium finish when he was called into the pits to retire with a hydraulic problem.
• Bruno Senna also drove a great race through from 22nd on the grid to challenge for points, despite technical problems hampering his progress.
• Bruno retired on the final lap of the two hour race as his FW34 lost power and stopped out on track.
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer:
"Both drivers drove extremely well today and at one stage we were looking at a good double points finish. Unfortunately we suffered two failures that forced us to retire the cars. This is an extremely disappointing end to a promising weekend."
Bruno Senna, DNF:
"Considering we had a few problems we were having a good race. I had a very eventful first few laps but was able to overtake when I needed to and had good pace at the beginning. It’s one of those races that we knew if we could finish we had a good chance of scoring some points but unfortunately we couldn’t. With 16 laps to go I lost KERS and so it was difficult to defend towards the end, but that’s racing. I’m happy with the race I did today, being able to come from 22nd to be fighting for points."
Pastor Maldonado, DNF:
"Today was difficult. The conditions were hard in the race as it was so hot and tyre degradation was high but we were managing well. The start was ok but I ran a bit wide on cold tyres losing a couple of positions but then we got into a good rhythm. Our pace was looking strong, as we were expecting, but then we had a hydraulic problem and that was the end of our race. I’m now confident for the next race as we have the potential to be fighting for victories and I hope to have a better race in Japan."
Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader:
"Today can only be described as disappointing, both cars retiring with mechanical issues. Pastor stopped with a hydraulic leak whilst a suspected KERS issue halted Bruno right at the end. Pastor's performance was faultless all weekend and Bruno's drive during the race was impressive, clawing his way through the field from 22nd on the grid."
