Williams: Maldonado claims first point

2011 Belgian GP team review

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Pastor Maldonado had a controversial Saturday but scored his first point on Sunday.

Rubens Barrichello Pastor Maldonado
Qualifying position 14 16
Qualifying time comparison (Q2) 2’07.349 (-0.757) 2’08.106
Race position 16 10
Laps 43/44 44/44
Pit stops 3 2

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

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Rubens Barrichello 130.773 119.252 118.295 117.403 119.404 116.892 116.872 116.611 117.415 117.459 117.035 117.058 134.689 156.367 171.603 167.424 117.772 117.159 116.401 115.333 115.379 115.812 114.567 114.457 116.348 116.086 115.092 115.282 115.255 115.559 122.276 127.174 114.116 114.216 114.211 113.83 114.015 113.859 114.534 120.38 153.353 110.424 115.152
Pastor Maldonado 131.701 117.796 117.259 117.118 119.251 117.433 117.307 117.047 117.547 117.571 118.69 123.187 147.314 144.762 164.245 167.22 117.573 116.971 116.251 115.545 115.216 115.796 115.005 114.504 115.611 114.664 114.87 115.392 118.595 127.547 113.735 113.79 114.417 114.277 113.901 113.661 113.748 114.666 113.557 113.381 113.511 113.625 113.362 113.889

Rubens Barrichello

Barrichello was delayed by – what else – a KERS problem in practice. He qualified 14th and said he could have got into Q3 but was held up by traffic.

He lost a place at the start and was passed by Maldonado on the second lap – despite his team mate having started seven places behind him.

The pair swapped places later in the race while Barrichello was running tenth. But his last scheduled pit stop dropped him out of the top ten.

On lap 40 he ran into the back of Kobayashi at the chicane and had to pit for a new front wing. He came out of the pits behind the Lotuses but ran out of time to pass them and finished 16th.

Rubens Barrichello 2011 form guide

Pastor Maldonado, Williams, Spa-Francorchamps, 2011

Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado received a five-place grid penalty after a bizarre and completely unnecessary incident in qualifying. Having been passed by Lewis Hamilton at the end of his lap, Maldonado weaved into the side of Hamilton’s McLaren on their in-lap.

But he made rapid progress and was up to tenth by lap six. He kept Paul di Resta behind him in the middle of the race and was briefly up to ninth before behind passed by Felipe Massa.

He wasn’t close enough to capitalise on Vitaly Petrov’s last-lap drama but tenth gave him his first point in F1 and the first for Williams since Canada.

Pastor Maldonado 2011 form guide

2011 Belgian Grand Prix

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    Image © Williams/LAT

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    17 comments on “Williams: Maldonado claims first point”

    1. Profile Photo

      BasCB (@bascb)
      29th August 2011, 8:47

      While Maldonado fully deserved to be disqualified for the saturday incident IMO, he seemed to do a solid job, keep out of trouble and get that first points finish that could have been his in Monaco.

      Lets hope its a turning point for him and he develops himself to be a solid driver for the future.

      Rubens was held up behind Kovalainen (wich hampered Maldonado in turn) in qualifying. He then got passed by his teammate in the race before getting ahead again later, but made an ill judged move on Kobayashi to lose that position. Not really a race to remember for him.

      I saw rumours of Rubens telling the world he had not heard any news about contract developments from Williams in the last 3 weeks, and going on to say its about economics and he might not be driving with them next year. Can’t say i am supprised by that.

      1. Profile Photo

        Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
        29th August 2011, 9:58

        Can’t say i am supprised by that.

        Neither, especially considering his collision with Kobayashi (who seemed to be hitting everyone on-track this weekend). Which is a shame – I always though Barrichello and Williams would have been a good fit.

        If Barrichello does leave at the end of the year, whether for retirement or for somewhere else, I wonder who would replace him? Romain Grosjean? Giedo van der Garde?

        And if Rubens does leave where would he go? I myself think he would be a good repalcement for Jean Todt …

        1. TFLB
          29th August 2011, 10:18

          Who did Kobayashi hit? He was crashed into twice, that’s all I cn remember.

          1. Profile Photo

            Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
            29th August 2011, 10:28

            He was trundling around with a damaged front wing before the collision with Hamilton. He’d clearly hit somebody.

            1. TFLB
              29th August 2011, 12:25

              It was a bit of Senna’s front wing which disintegrated.

        2. AdrianMorse
          29th August 2011, 10:24

          I’d like to see Grosjean in a Williams, given that there probably won’t be any room for him at LRGP, and I think he’d be quicker than the ageing Barrichello.

          1. Sush Meerkat
            29th August 2011, 11:03

            The Rudderless Russian (Petrov) has better chances of being signed by Williams, he brings Russian sponsorship money with him.

            Wouldn’t be surprised, since Renault are cooing over Senna right now.

        3. Profile Photo

          BasCB (@bascb)
          29th August 2011, 11:18

          what about Sutil bringing his 1-2 million from Medion with him?

        4. Skett
          30th August 2011, 1:03

          I thought Williams had already confirmed they were keeping the same drivers for next year? Could be wrong though

          1. Profile Photo

            AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
            30th August 2011, 13:50

            Nothing yet https://www.racefans.net/2012-f1-season/2012-f1-drivers-teams/

            I imagine Maldonado will stay due to the cash he brings.

      2. Profile Photo

        Fixy (@)
        29th August 2011, 12:25

        Agree with the first paragraph.
        I heard Rubens’ relationship with Williams has deteriorated because he doesn’t seem likely to be with them for 2012, and rumours link van der Garde to his seat.

        1. Mike
          29th August 2011, 15:10

          Van der Garde and Pastor?

          Not the strongest line up there. I think dropping Rubens at this stage is a mistake. They need a competitive (and consistent) driver.

          1. TFLB
            29th August 2011, 15:46

            Maldonado has usually been as fast or faster than Barrichello and has probably actually made less mistakes.

    2. Q85
      29th August 2011, 10:56

      Good drive by Pastor, good recovery from saturday.

      He was wrong on saturday, but he clearly wasnt the only one to blame. before the impact lewis had one hand on wheel and had already weaved towards the williams.

      Doesnt excuse Pastors reaction in any way, and he needs to know not to do that. But he wasnt the only villain. Also found it quite comical what DC was saying about him. has he forgotten France 2000 already???

    3. Profile Photo

      wasiF1 (@wasif1)
      30th August 2011, 4:37

      Good recovery after the drama in Saturday by Pastor.

    4. Profile Photo

      AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
      30th August 2011, 13:52

      Personally I’m finding this hard to believe “…and the first for Williams since Canada”.

      Dreadful stuff!

    5. RaikkonenNo1
      30th August 2011, 13:57

      also Kimi’s last F1 Victory was 2 years ago today

    Comments are closed.