Nakajima collects 2 points for Williams
Kazuki Nakajima secured two points for the AT&T Williams team today at the Spanish Grand Prix, thereby confirming the team’s fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Kazuki was one of just 13 finishers this afternoon during an eventful race which saw two safety car periods.
Nico Rosberg executed the best start of the day, jumping from 15th on the grid to 11th position by the end of the first lap. Unfortunately, however, he was unable to capitalise on his efforts when a failure on his FW30 forced him into the team’s first retirement of the season on lap 42 of the race.
Kazuki Nakajima: "It was a good race and it was important to me to score points today. I made it off the line ok, but I was then caught behind Button so I lost position, which was disappointing. I’m happy with the end result though and this race is another step forward for me. There is, of course, room for improvement but five points in the first four races is a good start in my first year."
Nico Rosberg: "In the end, this result is a combination of two things. We brought a new aero package to this race and we went the wrong way with it when it came to set-up in practice. We were able to change this for the race and went much more towards Kazuki’s setting, which worked a lot better as I was able to push harder and I was much happier with that. It was going really well in the race. I had a good start, chose the right way to go off the line and went from 15th to 11th in the first lap so I knew we had a good chance to do well and overtake Jarno for sixth place. Even if I hadn’t passed Jarno, I still would have finished seventh, which would have been good also, so the end result is a shame."
Sam Michael, Technical Director: "It was good to score some points with Kazuki for the team’s standing in the Constructors’ Championship, but it’s also slightly disappointing as we should have scored more. Nico was looking good for sixth place after he took advantage of the second safety car period and pitted at the right time, but he unfortunately suffered a failure. We haven’t identified the problem as yet, it’s currently under investigation."
