Bahrain: Race Notes - WilliamsF1

12/03/2006

Sam Michael, Technical Director, WilliamsF1: "Our final positions today don't reflect our real pace as the car was fast and we were perhaps a bit too conservative on our pit stop strategy by running too long at the start. However, looking at the FW28 over the race, it is clear that we have a strong car aerodynamically and mechanically. With all of the new partnerships that we have, today is a credit to all involved. The tyres worked fantastically, we couldn't have asked for better, as our long runs on Friday with Alex indicated. Unfortunately on qualifying day, the track was a bit too cool for our compound compared to the other Bridgestone runners, but today the compound was perfect. Together with our other technical partner, Cosworth, it is clear we have a good combination. Mark drove a solid race, start to finish. Nico made mistake at turn one, which cost him 45s on his in lap and pitstop - without this, he would have been on the podium and he did record the fastest lap of the race. For his first race, it's a fantastic result. Our target now is to turn up in Malaysia and deliver the goods."

Mark Webber: "Today's race was superb, a really good job by the whole team, we really could not have asked for more. Having both cars finishing was very useful, we have collected a lot of data and this will help with our understanding of the tyres. Malaysia will be a different race altogether and our performance today will really help with our preparation for next weekend."

Nico Rosberg: "I really enjoyed myself today and the final result was a good outcome. Unfortunately I made a mistake at the first corner, expecting that Heidfeld might leave me more room and the incident put me right back. However, it was a super effort by the team and I really enjoyed fighting my way up, particularly battling with Coulthard. The final result - seventh place and the fastest lap of the race -is more than I could have hoped for in my first race. Today was a great start and I'm looking forward to the next race.

Simon Corbyn, Head of F1 Race Engineering, Cosworth: "Today was a great start to the season with Williams. Neither of the Cosworth CA 2006 engines missed a beat throughout the race and the performance of the series two engines was very competitive and everyone at Cosworth deserves thanks for all their efforts over the winter."