25/03/2012
NEWS STORY
Bruno Senna scored the team's first points of the season by finishing sixth in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Pastor Maldonado was also on target for a top ten finish until an engine issue ended his race on lap 55.
After beginning under safety car conditions, the race was red flagged on lap nine for just under an hour due to heavy rain. Following a first lap incident, Bruno made an unscheduled pitstop for a new front wing. Pastor had to make an additional pitstop after poor visibility caused him to miss his pit box when attempting to pit for wet tyres on lap 14. Bruno drove a great race to come through from 23rd at the restart to claim eight points. Both drivers put in consistently quick laptimes to challenge for positions throughout the race.
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: It was a real rollercoaster of a race and the whole team are delighted to get our first points of the season. Bruno drove very well finishing in sixth, having been last at the restart. Unfortunately we had to retire Pastor with an engine problem with only a few laps left whilst he was running in tenth.
Bruno Senna: I am really excited about the result today. I'm so happy that I have scored points for the team after a very tough race. It's on days like to today that you can show what you can do in difficult conditions. I knew we had to attack after the restart, so it was very satisfying to push hard, not make any mistakes and to make my way up through the field. I'm so happy for everyone in the team.
Pastor Maldonado: It was very difficult today with conditions changing so quickly at the start. I had poor visibility in the pitlane so missed the pit box entry after the restart which dropped me down the order. I was then just pushing every lap and our pace was very consistent. I had a good race to come through from 20th to tenth with just two laps remaining. Bruno had a great race and we have both been able to show that the car is competitive.
Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: Our feelings are obviously very mixed. It's very satisfying to score the first points for the new Williams-Renault package with Bruno's sixth position, but very frustrating to lose a potential double points finish due to an engine failure on Pastor's car. We are still looking into the problem but apologies to the team and we'll look to make amends in China. There's a long gap between now and then so we have time to fully investigate.
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