Saturday – Williams was aiming for the first two rows

Williams, notably with Nico Rosberg, had completed three high-level practice sessions. The German was simply unbeaten, and this invincibility did not hold up in qualifying. Indeed, he will start from the 5th position on the starting grid.

His teammate, Kazuki Nakajima, disappoints with only a 13th position even though his FW31 was one of the most reliable. Probably more fuel… Especially since this qualifying session was extremely competitive.

Nico Rosberg – 1st and 5th:

« I think I’m a bit disappointed with this fifth place even though our qualifying session aligns with our practice sessions. Today, the car was nice to drive. With the work we did today, we are in a good position to start the race under good conditions, maybe a bit better than we had imagined when we arrived here. »

« We are among the fastest cars, but it will be interesting to see everyone’s fuel load. Tomorrow’s start will of course be important, but fortunately, we don’t have too many cars equipped with KERS. The big factor tomorrow will be the tires, but I think we have a good strategy and good reliability. »

Kazuki Nakajima – 5th and 11th (qualified 13th):

« The car was good enough to make it to Q3 today, but I made a small mistake that cost me many places. However, there are many things to review before tomorrow and I think I still have a good chance to shine. It will be important to focus and keep the points in mind. As it’s the first race, I think there will be many incidents, which will make it exciting. »

Sam Michael – Technical Director:

Our preparations were properly conducted before tomorrow’s race. Both cars are reliable, and we have managed to find a reasonable pace. Nico made better use of this advantage today, but an error by Kazuki in Q2 prevented him from progressing in Q2.