16/04/2011
NEWS STORY
The team experienced a more promising qualifying session in China today. Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado progressed through Q1, but a red flag in the final minutes of Q2 disrupted proceedings and interrupted both their flying laps. The subsequent procession of cars all then trying to set their quickest time in the one remaining lap precluded the AT&T Williams pair from any clear air to set a more competitive time. The team subsequently aborted both drivers' runs in order to preserve the option tyre for tomorrow. As a result, Rubens will line up in P15 and Pastor in P17 for the race.
Rubens Barrichello: I've been having a weekend of experiments. We tried a new version of the exhaust in practice; we do not fully understand it yet, so we went into qualifying with our original set-up. I was happy with Q1 but then we had the rush hour! On the restart, Sutil tried to overtake me going into the first corner which spoiled both of our laps. We've made progress since Malaysia so I'm looking for points.
Pastor Maldonado: I'm a bit disappointed by the red flag because the lap I was on at the time was looking good. We could have fought for a place in the top ten today so it looks like we've made some improvements with the car. We need to keep working and concentrate our minds for tomorrow. I'm looking for some points.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Although not reflected in our result this afternoon, the qualifying pace of the FW33 has improved. After testing the new exhaust system throughout practice, we decided we needed more understanding of it before using it in the race. We therefore reverted back to the standard exhaust system on Rubens' car. Our target for tomorrow is reliability and to be in a position to fight for points.
To check out our Shanghai qualifying gallery, click here.