25/09/2010
NEWS STORY
With dependable progression for both AT&T Williams drivers into Q3 in recent races, today's session was positive for Rubens Barrichello and frustrating for Nico Hulkenberg in equal measure. Rubens achieved his season's best qualifying performance by claiming P6. Nico, who has been consistently quick all weekend on the Marina Bay circuit, endured a difficult pair of runs in Q2 that saw him unable to make the cut into the final session for the first time in five races.
Rubens Barrichello: First of all I'd like to say thanks to the team for bringing new components to this race which have worked. Of course expectations were pretty high, but I think we have matched our ambition today and we have the basis for a good race tomorrow.
Nico Hulkenberg: It was a totally frustrating session for me tonight. It's pretty inexplicable, the car has been good all weekend long and we have been consistently in the top ten very comfortably. On the first run in Q2 on prime tyres, I got backed up by Sutil, then there was a yellow flag. So when I boxed for options I was still confident we could bank a good lap, but the car balance was like night and day. I am not sure if we had a problem, but we will fight on. Although overtaking is not easy, incidents do occur here, so possibilities still exist and the car remains fast.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: It was a great qualifying performance from Rubens tonight, showing that the improvements that we have on his car are working well. Unfortunately Nico missed Q3 by less than a tenth - such a shame because he's been quick all weekend. But it's not over yet and a street circuit can throw up many surprises in the race.
To check out our Singapore qualifying gallery, click here