Williams: Alternative strategy doesn’t help Maldonado

2011 European GP team review

Posted on

| Written by

Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Valencia, 2011

Williams brought a batch of upgrades to the European Grand Prix but removed some of them before the race.

Sam Michael said: “We carried out further aero tests on the exhaust and front wing during this morning’s practise session.

“After reviewing the data we decided to revert to the standard exhaust system for qualifying as we were getting inconsistent floor performance from the latest version.”

Both drivers finished out of the points.

Rubens BarrichelloPastor Maldonado
Qualifying position1315
Qualifying time comparison (Q2)1’39.489 (-0.156)1’39.645
Race position1218
Laps56/5756/57
Pit stops33

Williams drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2011drivercolours.csv

123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657
Rubens Barrichello119.008108.482108.065107.707107.032107.547107.438107.26107.32107.665122.554111.734106.255106.547106.433106.539106.911106.366106.06105.739105.752105.867106.18106.187106.16106.041106.507121.135111.667105.371104.778104.814104.801104.82104.983105.046105.013105.081105.44120.616111.313104.967105.104105.3105.555104.573107.677104.807104.831104.395104.43104.783104.227104.225104.131104.907
Pastor Maldonado125.206111.066109.977109.646109.512109.293108.994108.988108.951123.987112.13107.404106.786107.727106.66107.418106.551106.307106.323106.452106.496106.607106.167106.714107.91108.005107.858124.856117.082105.215105.409105.768106.474105.209106.087104.925104.743104.568105.095106.878105.981105.639105.68120.939110.016103.592103.134104.22103.994103.422104.231104.613103.98104.246104.574105.603

Rubens Barrichello

Barrichello felt he could have made it into Q3 but for a mistake on his best lap.

He got ahead of Paul di Resta via the pit stops but lost out to the one-stopping Sergio Perez.

Rubens Barrichello 2011 form guide

Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado tried to start the race on medium tyres but found the strategy didn’t work for him as his tyre pressures were too low: “We had a slow start so I lost positions off the line.

“I then couldn’t make the [medium] tyre work for me in the first stint so I had to come in early to change them. The early stop forced us onto a three stop strategy.”

Pastor Maldonado 2011 form guide

2011 European Grand Prix

    Browse all 2011 European Grand Prix articles

    Image © Williams/LAT

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

    Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

    12 comments on “Williams: Alternative strategy doesn’t help Maldonado”

    1. Profile Photo

      Enigma (@enigma)
      27th June 2011, 11:58

      I think they’ll gain a lot from Silverstone. They aren’t using anything from the grey area of the rules, no engine mapping, no off-throttle blowing. I believe they might be regularly in the points from Silverstone onwards.

      1. Profile Photo

        the_narv (@the_narv)
        27th June 2011, 14:07

        To quote Sam Michael in the post race press release:

        We have a lot of work to do between now and Silverstone to allow for the rule changes in respect to the exhaust.

        So it sounds as if they may be doing something that falls foul of the rules.

        Hope you’re right about them being regularly in the points though.

    2. Profile Photo

      Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
      27th June 2011, 12:10

      <blockquote.Williams: Alternative strategy doesn’t help Maldonado
      Maldonado spinning out didn’t help Maldonado, either.

      1. Piero
        27th June 2011, 15:09

        Looked funny on TV, leaders coming into turn 2 and then Maldonado coming out of nowhere! What was he doing there?

        1. Mike
          27th June 2011, 15:33

          That was hilarious :D

        2. Profile Photo

          Fixy (@)
          27th June 2011, 15:35

          The commentators couldn’t explain it! They were all busy and though it was one of the leaders!

          1. Profile Photo

            BasCB (@bascb)
            27th June 2011, 20:06

            The BBC mentioned he must have come from a different track there!

    3. Klaas
      27th June 2011, 12:42

      I think Williams needs new drivers along with new management.

    4. RichyB
      27th June 2011, 13:15

      It doesn’t help either that Maldanado pretty much comes out of every first lap, turn 1, dead last. I think every replay I’ve seen from a car n the midfield shows him all-but stall off the start

    5. Little Britain
      27th June 2011, 15:23

      I think if lewis hamilton was driving the same car he would have been blaming the team a everybody else. Formula one is all about the car if you have a rubbish car chances are that you will not do much. Tobe quite honest this race was just another preditable one.

    6. Profile Photo

      Fixy (@)
      27th June 2011, 15:38

      Williams have said they will bring updates for a while – but they always seem problematic. And the performance doesn’t improve…

    7. Profile Photo

      AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
      27th June 2011, 22:06

      Maldonado trying to do a Kobayashi on the tyres? Worth a go I guess…

    Comments are closed.