Saturday Report – The Good and the Not So Good for Williams

Williams demonstrated today their good form in the 2008 season by placing an FW30 in 7th on the starting grid, while the other will be in 14th position. Both drivers managed to reach Q2, but a red flag during this session required a strategy revision for Nakajima, who couldn’t reach Q3.

Nevertheless, both drivers will start the race tomorrow with confidence. Nico Rosberg will aim to score as many points as possible for this start of the season.

Kazuki Nakajima – 19th and 13th (Qualified 14th):

« It’s not the qualifying result I was hoping for, but at least I’ve made progress compared to my first race in Brazil last year, as I’ve made it to Q2.

« It was difficult this time due to the red flag, but it was important for me to gain stability today by trying to find a satisfying lap time during free practice 3. I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. »

Nico Rosberg – 4th and 7th:

« I am quite happy with today’s qualifications, I was one of the best. I felt that coming here could prove to be fantastic, we could be the best in the midfield. We had a tough start with yesterday. We haven’t yet shown what we are capable of and we have a bright future.

« Thus, overall, I am happy, we have a very good position for tomorrow and we will have to try to score some points. It is going to be a tough challenge, for all the cars, there will be some problems. »

Sam Michael – Technical Director:

« It was a good qualifying session for Nico. The red flag in Q2 was unfortunate as he was using a set of tires that, unfortunately, did not have the time to show their full potential. His performance is far from bad. He should have a solid race tomorrow. »

Kazuki was also trapped in Q2 and couldn’t take part in the final session. We will still have to review his race strategy overnight.