Solid race for Rosberg as Webber retires

It was another pointless day for the Williams F1 Team at Japan as Nico Rosberg, who drove a solid race, only finished 10th and Mark Webber had to retire the race. The Australian suffered understeer and crashed into the wall of tyres.

“After the start, we lost a couple of positions with Nico and struggled to make them up. There were no problems with any of the systems on the cars; we just need to go faster. Mark spun out at the last corner, on lap 40, so we will now investigate why that happened. Nico drove a solid race to finish tenth. We’ll now return to the factory, analyse the data and head to Brazil for the final race of the season with expectations for a stronger finish.”

“Unusually, we didn’t have the best start. I don’t know why, but it meant I lost one place in the first couple of laps and then I had a bit of a struggle passing Barrichello, who had a problem with his front wing. I had to go around the outside, which wasn’t ideal, and I made a little mistake and lost another place to Kubica, whom I had just passed. Also, the conditions were not perfect for our tyre today, especially in the last stint when the temperatures dropped. I think the maximum result achievable would have been a ninth place. It was not a bad weekend for me because it’s my first time at Suzuka, which is one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar. It was also the second race in a row that I have finished, which is good as it gives me more race experience.”

Mark Webber“I was struggling for balance at that chicane all day really. When we put fresh boots on after the first stop, I had massive power understeer. I had no front grip and the car then went just two inches onto the grass and I couldn’t bring it back. It’s a shame. There’s only one race to go now so I hope we will have a good finish in Brazil.”

“No engine problems in Suzuka in terms of reliability or engine performance. Mark will therefore get a fresh engine for an emotional final race in Brazil. As Mark’s engine will then only need to complete one race distance, Cosworth will pull out all the stops for what is potentially our last race in Formula One.”