Williams Report – A weekend to forget… Williams is drowning

Williams has its worst race of the season at Fuji in Japan, with two retirements.

Certainly, the weather conditions were dangerous, detestable, and even unexpected; certainly, the race was interrupted twice by the safety car, and certainly, nearly 10 cars did not make it to the finish. But for the team currently 4th in the Constructors’ Championship, having no driver at the finish is more than just a poor result…

The Franck Williams team was even temporarily overtaken in the standings by Red Bull during this race when Webber and Coulthard were in the points. But fortunately for the team, fate decided otherwise when Webber and Vettel collided.

Nico Rosberg – Withdrawal

« It was a tough race today, probably with the worst conditions I’ve ever had during a race. I couldn’t see anything in front of me, I was aquaplaning all the time but I did everything to stay on the track. Afterwards, I suffered an electronic failure which caused major handling issues with the car. In these conditions, losing front traction control caused my retirement because I could no longer drive through corners… »

Alex Wurz – Retirement

« I was next to Felipe Massa and everything was going very well when I was hit from behind. I imagine the person who did that didn’t see me, just as I couldn’t have seen any other cars… Normally I’m happy to drive in the rain, but the weather was really bad this afternoon. Visibility was good as long as you weren’t following anyone, but if someone was in front, you couldn’t see anything. It’s a bit like running around your house with your eyes closed… you kind of have a sense of where you need to go. »

Sam Michael – Technical Director

« The weather led to very complicated driving conditions, but I am disappointed not to have a driver in the points. Alex [Wurz] retired early on while Nico [Rosberg] had an issue with a measuring instrument that caused his retirement… However, overall, his qualification yesterday showed good progress.