31/07/2011
NEWS STORY
Today's Hungarian Grand Prix was dominated by uncharacteristically mixed weather conditions; a wet-dry-wet-dry race forcing a total of 88 trips to the pitlane. For AT&T Williams, conditions didn't play to the team's advantage with both drivers also suffering significant tyre wear. The 70 lap race concluded with Rubens Barrichello in 13th place from P15 on the grid ahead of teammate Pastor Maldonado who took the flag in 16th having started in P17.
Congratulations to Jenson Button on taking victory in his 200th Grand Prix today.
Rubens Barrichello: I am pretty disappointed with the result because we were fighting for some points today. We struggled with our tyres throughout and I lost a part of my front wing at the beginning of the race. Then, when it started to rain, I saw a big chance for us. I saw Hamilton spin and I thought we could do something to have a chance to finish high in the points. But the rain only came out for a lap or so and so our stop for inters didn't work. It's a shame, but we don't have the pace right now.
Pastor Maldonado: It was a hard race. We made some places up at the start but it was difficult to stay on the track, even on inters. I made a mistake on the way into my first pitstop by not pushing the pit limiter button which meant I received a drive-through penalty. It then started to rain again. It was a lottery deciding whether or not to go back onto inters or stay on the dry tyres and we chose the inters, but then the rain stopped shortly afterwards and so we had to make another stop for dry tyres. We didn't get points today, but we've made some improvements this weekend and we will be working hard over the break in preparation for the final races of the year.
Sam Michael, Technical Director: Although the result doesn't reflect it, our lap times from qualifying and the race this weekend show that the car is more competitive in dry conditions than it has been at previous rounds. We made too many mistakes today, however, and we will be reviewing our procedures to resolve those issues between now and Spa. We will also use the time to bring more performance to the car for the final rounds.
To check out our Hungary GP gallery, click here.