Saturday: It’s better than expected for Williams

Rubens Barrichello – 15th and 13th:

« Overall, it has been a difficult weekend in terms of performance for us and even if we would be happy to be higher in the standings, we did better than we thought. Starting 13th and 14th gives us hope to score points, so we will stay positive and do our best tomorrow.

Pastor Maldonado – 18th and 14th:

It was difficult for everyone on the team today. The mechanics did a fantastic job repairing my car in time to allow me to go out in Q1. I then had a scare on the first lap. The tires weren’t up to temperature yet, so I was probably a bit too optimistic with the rear wing and lost the car, hitting the barrier. There wasn’t too much damage, mainly the front wing that we had to change. I think we are more competitive today and that the team did a good job with Rubens in 13th, so we’ll see in the race.

Sam Michael – Technical Director:

« Even though we improved our pace since Friday, unfortunately it was not enough to get into the top 10 today. However, our setup is planned for the race after we realized we might have issues in qualifying to get the best out of our car. »

« Rubens had a trouble-free session, unlike Pastor. After a late start due to problems with the KERS, Pastor went off the track at the exit of the Parabolica, which caused damage to his car that we couldn’t fix before the end of the session. Considering that, these times are good. They should both have a good race pace tomorrow. Congratulations also to the mechanics in the garage who worked hard to get Pastor out in time after the KERS issues. »