Saturday: Williams and Maldonado, Victims of the Elements
After the fire, due to a KERS problem, it was the water pump of the Williams FW35 that failed Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan had only one single attempt to extract all the potential from his car, in vain, ending up in 18th position, just behind his teammate, Valtteri Bottas.
Valtteri Bottas – 18th and 17th:
« We got the most out of the car this afternoon. It was very tight between Pastor and me, but for now, we don’t have the pace to do better. The temperatures were higher and there was a bit more wind today, which meant that every tenth or hundredth counted, creating a very tight session. We must keep pushing and do everything we can in the race. »
Pastor Maldonado – 17th and 18th:
« We expected a little better today, but the car is very tricky to drive on a circuit like this. We need to keep working hard to solve the issues we’ve identified with the car and to move up in the rankings. It looks like it’s going to be a tough race tomorrow as the slow corners don’t suit our car, but we’ll do everything we can to score points. »
