Barrichello donned an Ayrton Senna-style helmet for what could turn out to be his final race.
But after an excellent qualifying performance he bogged down badly at the start and finished out of the points.
| Rubens Barrichello | Pastor Maldonado | |
| Qualifying position | 12 | 18 |
| Qualifying time comparison (Q1) | 1’14.117 (-0.508) | 1’14.625 |
| Race position | 14 | |
| Laps | 70/71 | 26/71 |
| Pit stops | 3 | 1 |
Williams drivers’ lap times throughout the race (in seconds):
| 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 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | |
| Rubens Barrichello | 92.956 | 81.352 | 81.131 | 80.783 | 80.402 | 80.13 | 79.968 | 80.108 | 80.197 | 80.455 | 80.122 | 80.163 | 80.282 | 80.211 | 80.652 | 85.446 | 94.62 | 79.362 | 79.466 | 79.47 | 79.24 | 79.865 | 79.076 | 78.974 | 78.885 | 78.881 | 78.866 | 78.991 | 79.217 | 79.004 | 79.449 | 79.209 | 79.491 | 84.115 | 95.868 | 78.794 | 78.801 | 78.838 | 78.663 | 78.684 | 80.459 | 78.797 | 79.342 | 79.18 | 78.609 | 78.821 | 78.663 | 78.254 | 78.498 | 78.565 | 78.768 | 78.963 | 84.236 | 93.701 | 77.056 | 77.281 | 77.158 | 77.202 | 77.1 | 76.895 | 77.116 | 77.098 | 76.854 | 77.261 | 77.605 | 77.297 | 77.824 | 77.219 | 77.263 | 76.684 | |
| Pastor Maldonado | 93.311 | 81.715 | 81.104 | 80.688 | 80.156 | 80.571 | 80.191 | 80.06 | 80.091 | 80.428 | 80.511 | 80.424 | 80.417 | 80.355 | 81.345 | 80.829 | 84.676 | 94.573 | 80.02 | 80.043 | 79.951 | 79.99 | 80.01 | 80.145 | 79.909 | 79.706 |
Rubens Barrichello
| Start tyre | Soft |
| Pit stop 1 | Soft 21.537s |
| Pit stop 2 | Medium 22.59s |
| Pit stop 3 | Soft 21.638s |
A fine effort in qualifying secured 12th on the grid for Barrichello. But he squandered it as he got away poorly, falling to 20th place:
“We thought it was going to rain today so we were running a long first gear,” he explained. “I started at the bottom of the hill, and as it was a dry start, I slipped back.”
The team switched him to a three-stop strategy in an effort to make up places. Finishing in the points was going to be a tall order even without the bad start, but from that point on he had no chance.
Rubens Barrichello 2011 form guide
Pastor Maldonado
| Start tyre | Soft |
| Pit stop 1 | Medium 21.561s |
Maldonado ran slightly more rear wing, anticipating wet weather, and was eliminated in Q1 for only the second time this year.
He spun into the barrier at Ferradura on lap 27, bringing an occasionally impressive rookie season to a disappointing end. “The car had too much oversteer and I just lost control of it,” he said.
Pastor Maldonado 2011 form guide
2011 Brazilian Grand Prix
Image ?é?® Williams/LAT
Mr draw
28th November 2011, 12:55
Maldonado ran slightly more rear wing, but still his car was oversteering badly? Sounds like a really poor car-setup.
kenty (@kenty)
28th November 2011, 16:24
No, just a really poor car, sadly something Williams have been really good at producing over the last few years
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th November 2011, 13:01
Now that Williams worst ever season is over, I hope they either ship all of the the FW33 chassis they made off to some desert island never to be seen again, or preferebly set fire to all of them. This year has been cringeworthy at times. The back of the field is no place for a team of Williams stature to be…get a fresh piece of paper out and start again…and try harder this time!
BasCB (@bascb)
28th November 2011, 13:37
It was really too much, they seem to have been completely unable to do anything right this year.
But with a fresh technical team, possibly a freshend up driver team it might be different next year. Lets hop so.
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th November 2011, 14:08
That’s all we can do!
smifaye (@)
28th November 2011, 15:23
Well with Patrick Head gone and Sam Michael they should hopefully be able to start a fresh and get back to their old selves. I read somewhere, I think in F1Racing that they want to get back to their old selves where they used to invent things that got banned like active suspension. It was funny as they were pretty much saying “to be fast, we must cheat”.
Klaas (@klaas)
28th November 2011, 16:01
No really cheat, remeber how many “inventions” were allowed for a season then got banned – mass dumper, DD, F-duct, EBD.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
29th November 2011, 19:35
@BasCB Certainly can’t be any worse next year!
kenty (@kenty)
28th November 2011, 16:27
Sadly it’s been almost embarrassing to watch Williams this year, they have to get things right next year to retain any credibility as being a senior team
Girts (@girts)
28th November 2011, 13:07
I like how Massa let Rubinho unlap himself, that was a nice gesture.
Mike (@mike)
28th November 2011, 14:48
I think so as well.
I will also admit to reacting angrily at the TV when Coulthard started criticizing it.
Girts (@girts)
28th November 2011, 15:17
I’m surprised to hear that Coulthard did so. That move had no impact on points or even Barrichello’s finishing position.
Fixy (@)
28th November 2011, 21:04
Nice to hear! I thought Massa was struggling on his tyres. The two were very nice with the crowd!
BasCB (@bascb)
28th November 2011, 13:32
I read that headline as “there was no point in having Barrichello race in Brazil” there @keithcollantine!
Txizzle (@txizzle)
28th November 2011, 13:51
Can’t help but keep thinking Barri is better than this. It would be a shame to see him go.
Klaas (@klaas)
28th November 2011, 14:32
I’d love to see him go, in his long and fruitless career he raced for two WCC-winning teams. In 6 seasons where his team-mates became Champions (2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009) he managed to come runner-up only twice. So the question arises – why should this man be in F1?
Mike (@mike)
28th November 2011, 14:52
Scoring the 8th most points in history and visiting the podium less times than only 4 other drivers.
fruitless I think not!
Klaas (@klaas)
28th November 2011, 15:45
maybe it’s better to replace fruitless with laurelless.
Take into account that he is the driver with most races under his belt and the one who has driven the most races in a championship winning cars without winning any. So in this case the number of podiums doesn’t really mean excellence, it was the minimum he had to do in those conditions.
My words are harsh but can you say they aren’t true?
thersquared (@thersquared)
28th November 2011, 20:43
Let’s not forget however that many of those years were spent as a number 2 driver, who was supposed to help his teammate get it and not to try and win it himself. Especially when the team gives priority in car design and strategy to the other driver ( such as team orders having him move over to allow his teammate through).
RumFRESH (@rumfresh)
28th November 2011, 20:47
@klaas I seem to be agreeing with you a lot today. Barrichello is a great guy and a phenomenal ambassador for the sport. However, he hasn’t been the most exciting driver to watch and in most cases, has underachieved. He’s been in F1 for a while and I’d prefer to see some fresh talent in his seat next year.
Klaas (@klaas)
29th November 2011, 5:33
@thersquared Ok, at Ferrari he wasn’t allowed to win, but what about Brawn GP? Who impeded him to get the title then? There are many young drivers in midfield cars that I believe are capable of winning championships if given a competitive car. In Barrichello I see no hope, he had his chances but screwed them all.
lubhz (@lubhz)
29th November 2011, 18:23
To his defense during the 2009 season, his Brawn had break problems during the first races, it used to overheat so he couldn’t use those external plates that were used to improve aerodynamics, then it was late to chase Jenson.
azwris
3rd December 2011, 15:18
@Klaas: So you mean that in Brawn he had the same treatment with J.Button? Are you serious mate?
Mike (@mike)
28th November 2011, 14:52
Also, that is a horrible way to think about any driver.
Txizzle (@txizzle)
28th November 2011, 15:00
I agree (with both your statements)
nackavich (@nackavich)
28th November 2011, 14:55
Amazing to think by the time I started watching F1 in ’96 he’d already been there for 3 years. Makes me feel so old!
GeeMac (@geemac)
29th November 2011, 7:12
I remember his debut…feeling VERY old!
azwris
3rd December 2011, 15:20
I remember his debut too. It makes me feel unbreakable!
Eggry (@eggry)
28th November 2011, 16:18
Return of Kimi is unlikely now, I think Barichello is not a bad choice.
kenty (@kenty)
28th November 2011, 16:30
I’d like to see Rubens keep his seat too, but I feel it might end up with Sutil
Txizzle (@txizzle)
28th November 2011, 19:59
preferably i’d see sutil next to barrichello, even more preferably hulkenberg, but he’s most likely to stay at FI, isn’t he?
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
29th November 2011, 2:09
It seems they were the only team who had a wet setup? It backfired to them.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
29th November 2011, 19:38
@wasiF1 You win some, you lose some.
coefficient (@coefficient)
29th November 2011, 13:20
I remember last year Rubens was effusive about this years car as it would be the first car that he could get the team to tailor to his style. Hmm, better try something else hey Frank?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
29th November 2011, 19:39
A shame Barrichello couldn’t get in the points but I wasn’t expecting it either. I think he had a reasonably good finishing position, all things considered.
Wish him all the best for the future.
azwris
3rd December 2011, 15:22
Barrichello? I’d love to see him retire in style next year. It’s no time for excuses just respect & admiration!