RBS race report
Catalunya, Spain – 27/4/2008
The RBS-supported AT&T Williams team scored points for the third time in four races when Kazuki Nakajima finished sixth in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Catalunya, Spain – 27/4/2008
The RBS-supported AT&T Williams team scored points for the third time in four races when Kazuki Nakajima finished sixth in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona.
Kazuki, who qualified 12th, said: "It was a good race and it was important to me to score points today. I made it off the line okay but then I was caught behind Jenson Button and I lost a position.
"I'm happy with the end result, though, and the race is another step forward for me. There is still room for improvement but five points in the first four races is a good start in my first year."
For Nico Rosberg, the weekend started and finished disappointingly. Nico was not happy with the set-up of his Williams FW30 in practice and qualifying, but felt better in the race after adopting Nakajima's settings.
He made up four places on the opening lap and was on course to score points before being stopped by a car failure on lap 42.
"I had a great start, chose the right way to go and things opened up for me," said Nico. "After that first lap, I knew I had a chance to do well and possibly overtake Jarno Trulli for sixth place. Even if I hadn't managed that I would have been seventh, so in the final analysis the result is a shame."
Technical director Sam Michael backed up those sentiments. "It was good to score some points with Kazuki and maintain fourth place in the constructors' championship," he said, "but it's also disappointing in view of the fact that we could have scored a double-helping of points.
"Nico was looking good after he took advantage of the second Safety Car period and pitted at the right time, but then unfortunately suffered the failure. We haven't identified the problem as yet and it is currently under investigation."
The team now looks ahead to round five, the Turkish Grand Prix on May 11 at Istanbul Park, before focusing on the blue riband event in Monte Carlo later in May.
The Williams team brought a new aerodynamic package to the Spanish Grand Prix, where conditions were different to the pre-race test in Barcelona. "We went the wrong way with it on set-up in practice," explained Nico.
"I was able to change it for the race and went much closer to Kazuki's settings, which worked better. I was able to push harder and was much happier with the car. It was going really well in the race before the car problem."
Technical director Sam Michael said that the team's below par qualifying form had nothing to do with Bridgestone's control tyres being from the harder end of their range, as they were in Malaysia, where the team also struggled. "This track is very different in terms of the energy you put into it," he said. "Kazuki missed out on the top 10 qualifiers by a tenth and a touch of oversteer cost Nico. It's getting even more competitive – that's just the way things are."
World champion Kimi Raikkonen's second successive victory was his 17th from 126 starts. It leaves him just three short of Mika Hakkinen in the bid to become the 'winningest' Finn in F1 history.
It did, however, bring him level with his double world champion compatriot in terms of podium finishes. Raikkonen's win also brought a record-breaking stat to the Barcelona race. It is the eighth successive time that the pole position man has won the Spanish Grand Prix – a new entry for the F1 record book.
