Budapest, Hungary - 3/8/2008
The RBS-supported AT&T Williams team had a tough time in the Hungarian Grand Prix, round 11 of the FIA F1 World Championship, with Kazuki Nakajima and Nico Rosberg finishing the race in 13th and 14th positions respectively.
At the front Heikki Kovalainen took his maiden grand prix win after profiting from Felipe Massa's engine giving out three laps from the flag. Massa had led from the opening lap after getting past pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton, who ran a strong second for most of the race before being thwarted by a puncture which demoted him to fifth.
It had been anticipated that the tight and twisty high-downforce Hungaroring circuit would play to the strengths of the Williams FW30, but the team's chances suffered after a difficult qualifying hour on Saturday, which saw Nico and Kazuki qualify 15th and 17th respectively.
"Unfortunately Kazuki didn't progress through from the first session," said technical director Sam Michael. "And Nico could have delivered a lot more but a hydraulic problem kept him in the garage for the whole of Q2."
Monaco apart, Hungaroring is probably the schedule's hardest circuit on which to overtake and the team struggled for pace from the outset. "My first lap wasn't great," Nico admitted. "I was in the wrong place and a I lost a few positions. Then, during my first pit stop, something went wrong with the fuel rig which cost me a couple of decisive seconds and put me behind [Giancarlo] Fisichella. My strategy was over then."
Kazuki explained: "We converted my race strategy to a one stopper, which was the right thing to do. After that though, I was running with heavy fuel and I struggled on the option tyre and had to fight hard to maintain a good pace. Then I made contact with Fisichella and lost a position, but was able to regain it when he made his final stop. That was all that we could do today and so we need to look into what happened and try to improve for the next race."
Sam Michael said in summary: "At Budapest it is notoriously difficult to overtake, especially when everyone gets stacked up behind each other. We didn't have a good first lap, both cars lost position and we also had a problem with the fuel rig on Nico's car, which dropped him behind Kazuki. It was a difficult race but we will regroup and look ahead to the next Grand Prix after the summer break."
Sir Frank happy with new tech system
Sir Frank Williams said in Hungary that he was satisfied with team progress on the new KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) that will be introduced to F1 in 2009. There has been some debate about certain teams wanting to defer its introduction, but Willliams said: "I am happy with the path that we are going down and the fact that we have the expertise. Even if some concerns have been expressed I'm confident that it will be 99% safe."
Focus is still on 2008
Technical director Sam Michael confirmed that although there is much work to be done to prepare for the technical changes that will be a part of the 2009 F1 programme, Williams will continue developing the FW30. "During the summer break before the next couple of grands prix, even though we can't test on-circuit, we are still in a balancing act of developing the 2009 car while still improving this year's FW30."
Teams relishing new Valencia track
The next Grand Prix, in Valencia, will be the first of two new F1 venues on this year's F1 schedule. Grand Prix racing's first night race, in Singapore, follows in September but the end of August will see the teams tackling the new street circuit in Spain. "Formula 1 is constantly evolving and I think there is always a little frisson of added excitement when we go to a new circuit," said Frank Williams. "You have information about the track but you don't have previous data that we are all used to, so that adds to the challenge. I'm looking forward to it."
