09/07/2008
NEWS STORY
Williams is to cease focussing on its 2009 contender in an attempt to end the decline in form which has seen the British team slide to sixth in the Constructors' Championship, leaving it vulnerable to Renault, Honda and Toro Rosso.
Despite a strong start to the season, scoring nine points in Australia, the team has struggled ever since, scoring seven points in the next eight races. Both drivers have regularly struggled in qualifying, while, against all odds, Kazuki Nakajima has regularly appeared to get the better of Nico Rosberg, the result being that the pair are now tied in the Drivers' Championship with eight points apiece.
"We recently moved the majority of the aerodynamic programme to be on 2009," said Patrick Head, according to the BBC. "But we are now retro-putting some attention back to 2008 because we need to do better than we are doing."
Referring to Rosberg, who is contracted to the Grove outfit until the end of 2009, Head continued: "Magny-Cours was fairly poor, Monaco and Montreal we had the potential to get some good results but they were probably not Nico's best races. It's obviously not ideal but what do you do? You sort it out and that's what we'll do."
Head admitted that there was a "a very straightforward talk" involving himself, Frank Williams, Sam Michael and Rosberg following the Canada race, where the German ran into the back of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren, who had just run into the back of Kimi Raikkonen. The incident earned Rosberg a grid penalty for the French Grand Prix.
"There were no harsh words, no raised voices," said Head. "Obviously we work as a team but in effect Nico didn't get the results that he could have got and he's aware of that."