AT&T Williams Edge to Top Ten Safety after Suzuka Grand Prix

The AT&T Williams team achieved another points scoring race result in today’s Japanese Grand Prix following Rubens Barrichello’s determined drive to ninth place. Meanwhile, team mate Nico Hulkenberg was unable to capitalise on his competitive showing in qualifying when a collision off the start line put him out of contention from the outset. Rubens’ two points further strengthen the team’s efforts to secure sixth place in the Constructors’ championship with just three races of the season remaining, this is important as it will ensure finacial rewards needed to develop next years car.
Rubens Barrichello, who mananged to score points commented “My car was skating all over the track this afternoon. I don’t know why and, to make matters worse, I had quite a lot of vibration. We managed to salvage some points today, but I really thought we were going to finish higher up”.
Nico Hulkenberg, who DNF said “I had a bad start and I didn’t get off the line at all. I then saw Petrov coming up behind me. He touched my front right wheel and that was it. You never want to finish a race that early, but today it happened and it was unfortunate for us both. The team are doing a really good job developing the car and that showed in our qualifying performance so it was a shame to finish that early”.

Sam Michael, Technical Director was optimistic about the poor afternoon “It was good to get a couple of points with Rubens for the Constructors’. However, our race pace was disappointing, particularly compared to our qualifying performance when we were comfortably in the top ten. The team will work extra hard in order to understand and improve our position ahead of the remaining races. Unfortunately, we had a poor start on Nico’s car and then he was run into by another car before Turn One”.

Williams Italian Grand Prix Pre Race Quotes

Williams have released a statement from their technical driector on the run up to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza this weekend. We also have some exclusive quotes from Williams drivers Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenburg.

Sam Michael, Technical Director
Monza is the lowest drag level circuit on the F1 calendar, so the cars are running at very different aerodynamic efficiency levels compared to the normal high downforce tracks. This requires a special rear wing for this race only. Another important aspect of the historic Italian circuit is the kerb riding, something the FW32 will be set up to handle. For this track we have low drag front and rear wings.

Rubens Barrichello
Three wins and two podiums wins at the Autodromo Nazionale make it statistically my best rack, but never mind the numbers, it is a circuit I love and I always travel to Italy with affection and excitement. My positive record at the track and the work we have done to prepare for both the downforce and kerb requirements means that I am full of optimism. It was great to celebrate my 300th Grand Prix in Spa, but the race didn’t go to plan. We will pick up our momentum again in Monza.

Nico Hülkenberg
I have only raced once at Monza in last season’s GP2 Championship, but I immediately enjoyed the challenge of its high speed nature and one of the races ended for me in a podium. So I am approaching next weekend with a degree of respect that such a circuit demands, but equally I feel that it is time that both the car performance we are finding and my own work behind the wheel deserves to be reflected in better results more often, so my respect will be balanced with a really determined approach to the race weekend. Spa was frustrating as I worked hard to claim a good grid position and really want to ensure we convert our opportunities in Italy.

Williams F1 Post Belgian Race Report

 

 

After demonstrating pace on track and confident weather management from the pitwall on Saturday, race day did not run so smoothly for the AT&T Williams team. Rubens was an early casualty on the opening lap; as the sole top ten runner starting the race on the harder prime tyre, he hit a wet patch of track under braking into turn 18, colliding with Alonso’s Ferrari and retired early with car damage from his 300

 

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race. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg took up the mantle, but before the first pitstop window, lost full throttle control which triggered a series of difficult pitstops, challenging car control in changeable weather and constant revisions to tyre plans on the pitwall. Despite a number of considered gambles to retrieve position, he finished a difficult day in P14.

Nico Hulkenberg:

Pretty early on in the race I had a throttle control problem which made the car very difficult to handle, so we made an unscheduled stop, but the engine died in the box and had to be re-started. As a result I dropped position and then had to cope in the rain without the full engine control, which caused some spins. We took some tyre gambles at the end to try and recover something.

Rubens Barrichello:

Despite my experience, it was very difficult to know how wet the track was on the opening lap, but it was fully wet when I came into Blanchimont. I was closing the door on Rosberg and when I touched the brakes, even though it was quite early, it wasn’t sufficient to stop the car. The car went straight on into Alonso, for which I’m sorry. It’s also sad for the team. We’ve had such a positive weekend that a good result would have been a nice conclusion. Despite not having a good outcome in my 300th race, I’m confident we will go well in the 301

 

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Sam Michael, Technical Director:

Today was not a good day with Rubens out on the first lap and Nico had a control system problem that compromised the driveability and caused the engine to cut in his pitstop. So looking forward, our pace is improving and we will perform better in the forthcoming races.

Sam Michael On Malaysia F1 Practise Sessions

Sam Michael, Technical Director

We spent today’s practice sessions working on starts and evaluating a revised diffuser and front brake duct. The
tyres appear to be quite stable again, something we’ve come to expect from Bridgestone. Tonight we’ll be
focussing on extracting more speed out of the FW32 for qualifying. We had a mechanical problem on Nico’s car
in the afternoon session, but the mechanics were able to fix it quickly.

AT&T Australia Post Race Press Release

Aided by the forecasted rain, Melbourne’s Albert Park delivered a thrilling afternoon of racing today.
Starting on the fourth row of the grid, Rubens Barrichello again scored points for the team in his second
race for AT&T Williams, finishing in eighth place. Nico Hulkenberg’s debut Australian Grand Prix ended
before it began as he fell victim to Kobayashi’s turn six incident on the first lap. The team now pack up and
travel straight to Kuala Lumpur for the Malaysian Grand Prix next Sunday.

Rubens Barrichello:
It was a good race, but we should have finished in seventh really. We took the chance to change tyres
when we did and go for it. I thought everyone else would also come in, which is why I went for that route.
More points for the team today is positive though. The car is good enough; we will just be picking up more
points before we get podiums.

Nico Hulkenberg:
Today was obviously pretty disappointing. I was already in the corner when I was suddenly hit from behind by
Kamui Kobayashi. It was quite a big impact. I’m not sure what caused it, but it’s frustrating because I was looking
forward to my first race here.

Sam Michael, Technical Director:
It was good to get some more points, but we need to bring more performance to the car and to the
engine. Doing both is the major part of our development programme over the next few races. Rubens
drove well through all the conditions he faced today. Unfortunately, Nico was knocked out of the race
by another car.

HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO DRIVE AN AT&T WILLIAMS FORMULA ONE – win the chance

Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Official Partner of the AT&T Williams team, is again giving away the chance to drive a recent AT&T Williams Formula One car in 2009.
Through the online Philips Driving Academy, one lucky winner will get to drive a Williams FW29 for five laps on a Grand Prix circuit following intensive training from the AT&T Williams team.
Following on from the success of last year’s competition, Philips is committed to getting people closer to Formula One and putting them in the driving seat – literally in this case. Competition details are as follows:
1. Entry:
• Enter the Philips Driving Academy at www.philips.com/attwilliams
• Register your details and set your own ‘hotlap’ on the specifically designed Philips test
track
• The closing date for the competition is 20th September 2009
2. The prize:
• The ten fastest entrants globally will win an expenses paid trip to the UK to compete in
an assessment day
• The third placed finalist will get to drive a sports car around the circuit with instruction
from Kazuki Nakajima
• The second placed finalist will practice the track in a sports car (as above) and then get
to drive an F2 car for five laps of the circuit
• The overall winner will practice the circuit in both the sports car and F2 car, receive a
one-to-one briefing from Kazuki Nakajima and then drive a Williams FW29 for five laps
of the track Patrick Overwijk, F1 Sponsorship Manager, Philips Consumer Lifestyle, said: “Last season
we found fourteen very talented drivers who demonstrated a perfect combination of skill,
track awareness, consistency and a willingness to learn. In 2009, we’re hoping that the
Philips Driving Academy will unearth a number of men and women who also have what it
takes to drive the AT&T Williams car. Good luck!”

AT&T Williams Quotes and News After Chinese Qualifying

In another fiercely fought qualifying battle, AT&T Williams team drivers Nico Rosberg and Kazuki
Nakajima both eased into Q2, Nico entering in P5 and Kazuki in P15. Kazuki, however, was unable to
progress past Q2 and was left in P15 at the flag. Glock’s five place penalty promotes Kazuki to
fourteenth on the grid for tomorrow’s race. Nico fared somewhat better making it into the final round of
qualifying, therefore maintaining his unblemished record this season, and ended the deciding session
with the seventh fastest time of the day.

Nico Rosberg:
This is where we are at the moment. We are the fourth best team out there so seventh place is more
or less where we expected to be. We struggled slightly in warming up the tyres, but otherwise I am
quite pleased. Strategy-wise, we are looking good and I’m not worried about our race pace. If you
look at Malaysia we were pretty strong in the race even though the tyres are a challenge, both hard
and soft. We’ll have to see how everyone around us looks in terms of fuel. It would be good if, after
Australia and Malaysia, things would go a bit more our way tomorrow. I must say that, for me, today’s
surprise was Alonso.

Kazuki Nakajima:
The car is as competitive as it was in Malaysia and we’re still making progress, so this result is a
shame. I really hope I can do better in the race, but we first need to look at our data and see what was
going on with the car and try to resolve it. We’ll do our best to get a good strategy in place as you
never know what can happen in a Grand Prix.

Sam Michael, Technical Director:
It’s disappointing that Kazuki wasn’t higher today. With Nico, we could have done better in managing
his run in Q3, but it didn’t work out as planned today. We should have a more competitive race pace,
so we’re looking forward to a good performance tomorrow.

AT&T Williams Withdrawel Statement Post Qualifying

29 March, 2009, Melbourne, Australia. The AT&T Williams team confirmed that following
today’s qualifying session, it submitted protests against two competitor teams under the
2009 Technical Regulations.
After further detailed consideration, Williams has withdrawn both protests in the interests of
the sport.
Williams recognises the possibility that in this area there could be more than one
interpretation of the rules and therefore does not feel it appropriate to continue with the
protests.

Williams Test Slicks In Barcelona

 Williams have been testing the slick tyres to be brought into use during the 2009 formula 1 racing season. The move comes at the same time as other teams as Michael Schumacher also returned to test the slicks on the F2008.

Nico Rosberg set the seventh fastest time today using the new slick tyres which shows promise for next season.  Williams were also testing the car in preparation for the next race in Barcelona.

 Dickie Stanford, Test Team Manager: “Nico Rosberg took over the FW30 today and concentrated on running the 2009
Bridgestone slick tyres gathering valuable data ahead of next year. The day ran
smoothly, with no major problems and we’ll continue with Nico tomorrow.”

Williams Launch New 2008 Livery And We Love It

The Williams formula 1 team have been testing in six different paint jobs since January and we have liked a lot of the designs. In fact we mentioned that we quite liked the darker livery a few weeks ago and wished that Williams would stick with a darker design for the actual race car.

Well it seems they have listened, here are some pictures of the hot new williams formula 1 car:

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