The story of Saturday was Nico Hulkenberg’s remarkable pole position.
But on Sunday he slipped back into the pack to finish eighth. That was still enough to move Williams up to sixth in the constructors’ championship.
| Rubens Barrichello | Nico Hulkenberg | |
| Qualifying position | 6 | 1 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q3) | 1’16.203 (+1.733) | 1’14.470 |
| Race position | 14 | 8 |
| Laps | 70/71 | 70/71 |
| Pit stops | 3 | 1 |
Open lap times interactive chart in new window
Rubens Barrichello
Wasn’t able to match his team mate’s astonishing performance after an-off track moment in qualifying:
In these conditions, you need to keep temperatures up in the tyres, but I had a car in front of me going a bit slow so I lost temperature and went off.
Rubens Barrichello
Nonetheless he matched his best qualifying performance of the year with sixth.
Passed by Robert Kubica at the start, Barrichello’s race was ruined by a slow pit stop and, later, a puncture following contact with Jaime Alguersuari.
He finished 14th, moving ahead of Felipe Massa and Vitaly Petrov late in the race:
I’m sorry for all the Brazilians who came here wanting a different result. All I can say is that I gave it my all until the very end.
Rubens Barrichello
Compare Rubens Barrichello’s form against his team mate in 2010
Nico Hulkenberg
Produced the biggest shock of qualifying so far this year. Hulkenberg blitzed the championship contenders to put his FW32 on pole by 1.049 seconds:
I didn’t expect to be on pole today but the team gave me a car that worked really well in these conditions and I hooked up a tidy lap.
My engineer came over the radio and told me I was on pole, but I couldn’t quite believe it. It’s such an amazing feeling.
Nico Hulkenberg
Sebastian Vettel passed him off the line to lead and he ran wide under pressure from Mark Webber later on in the first lap and fell to second.
He held out for six laps under more pressure from Fernando Alonso before the Ferrari driver finally found a way by. Lewis Hamilton tried several attempts to pass the Williams but was still behind when Hulkenberg pitted on lap 14.
The team brought him in to cover the pit stops of Jenson Button, Felipe Massa and others. But they couldn’t keep him from falling behind the Mercedes drivers and Button also slipped past.
Hulkenberg kept Kubica behind for the rest of the race to finish eighth for four points which lift Williams to sixth in the constructors’ championship ahead of Force India.
I am happy with that result because I gave it everything today; there wasn’t anything left in me to give.
I was struggling quite a lot with the car, it really wasn’t easy to drive, but I kept Kubica behind me all the way. The team did a great pit stop and chose the right strategy; we just needed some more car pace.
Nico Hulkenberg
Compare Nico Hulkenberg’s form against his team mate in 2010
2010 Brazilian Grand Prix
Image © Williams/LAT
Ral (@)
8th November 2010, 13:12
Amazing effort from Hülkenberg. Really good drive after an absolutely awesome qualifying effort.
I really hope Williams have the money to stick with their current driver lineup.
Electrolite
8th November 2010, 14:01
They’d be mad not to stick with these two guys!
Torg
8th November 2010, 15:32
Agree, he was never going to stay at the front as the Williams isnt quick enough but he done a terrific job of defending his position during the early stages of the race. Ok so he eventually got passed by all the quick guys but Hulk made them work for it.
codesurge
8th November 2010, 16:43
“he ran wide under pressure from Mark Webber later on in the first lap and fell to second.”
Keith, I think that should be third behind the two RBRS. :)
A great race by the rookie, who I think defended robustly but fairly against cars much faster than his Williams. Even Hamilton was unable to forge a way past on the track on was only able to do so in the pits.
Electrolite
8th November 2010, 17:12
Yeah, I think he’s used to being up front and defending from all his successful years before F1, and that was evident in his brilliant defensive driving, particularly against Hamilton.
P.Sant
8th November 2010, 19:20
I think nico got pole because the williams team set up his car for pure wet conditions therefore explaining the very poor pace on race day. It’s a move that got some attention onto them but not so smart when you’re fighting hard for every single championship point.
Nico should stay at williams and maldonado should be employed as well. Therefore leaving barrichello as technical advisor and test driver.
HounslowBusGarage
8th November 2010, 20:49
I agree, I’ve never quite understood the idea that the test drivers are the youngest, least experienced drivers. I’ve always thought it would be better to have a widely experienced senior driver doing the testing – one who has driven all the tracks in all the conditions in a variety of cars.
Nico’s pole performance makes me wonder whether there should be points for pole as well.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
9th November 2010, 0:24
Well in the days of actual testing that would’ve made sense, but anymore a test driver is really just a reserve driver. Not much testing to be had.
azoris
9th November 2010, 11:55
Are you serious mate, Rubens a test driver? Oh my…
azoris
9th November 2010, 11:56
I don’t understand you mateys, Rubens should be a test driver? You must be nuts!!!
Douglas
9th November 2010, 2:38
It would be great if there was more colour contrast in those marvelous charts you produce. My old eyes have a hard time telling those two shades of blue apart. Great site, keep it up.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
10th November 2010, 12:41
I literally jumped out of my seat when Hulkenberg took pole! Amazing performance. Well worth staying up until 4am to see! :P