Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium – 7/9/2008
The RBS-supported AT&T Williams team managed to make some modest progress from their qualifying positions at Spa by running a one-stop strategy for Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg. However, the progress was not enough to get either driver into the points.
A flurry of rain, which made the track very slippery for the closing laps, presented an opportunity for a late bid for points. Unfortunately, the unscheduled stop for wet tyres did not come early enough for the team to capitalise on the weather.
The major talking point of the race came after the chequered flag when Lewis Hamilton was stripped of victory by the stewards, who imposed a 25-second penalty on the McLaren driver. He was accused of gaining an advantage by cutting the Bus Stop chicane in a late-race battle with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen.
The effect of the stewards' decision meant victory was awarded to Ferrari's Felipe Massa, with Nick Heidfeld (BMW) promoted to second place and Hamilton falling to third.
Away from the post-race drama, Nico, who finished 12th, admitted it had been a lacklustre afternoon. "It wasn't such an exciting race for me," he said. "Ultimately, I did the best I could from where I started and the performance we had in the car. I think, adding all this up, 12th is probably about the best we could have achieved.
"At the end of the race, we had to make the difficult judgement to come in for the wet tyres, and although we didn't make any gain, I still think it was a good decision to take."
Kazuki finished two places behind his team-mate in 14th and, he too, was left to wonder what might have been if the rain had come sooner.
"It was a tough call to either to stay on the slicks or try to see what the wets might do for us," he said. "In the end, we made the stop and changed the tyres, but we didn't have enough time to make up any ground."
The Japanese driver admitted it had been a difficult race from the very beginning. "I had a bit of contact in the first corner which cost me some time," he explained. "So from then on, I just tried to maintain a consistent pace because I was on a one-stop strategy. Given this, I think my race pace was not bad compared with those around me."
Technical Director Sam Michael was also disappointed with the team's performance. He said: "We were simply not competitive enough. We went for a one-stop strategy with both cars, which worked and helped to improve our position, but not enough for us to make progress into the points, which is what matters.
"The last lap dash on wets was a choice to see if we could make something of the opportunity, it worked for Heidfeld who jumped into a podium position, but there was insufficient track time for us to take advantage."
