Hungarian GP: Williams race notes

On an extraordinarily hot day at the Hungaroring, both the BMW WilliamsF1 team drivers made the best out of their race and scored some valuable points. Nick Heidfeld finished 6th and Mark Webber 7th having started 12th and 16th respectively.

Nick Heidfeld:

"The initial start was poor, a lot of cars went by but I made a good move under braking into the first two corners and gained a lot of positions there. After that I had big problems in the first stint. I had to turn down the engine power to the lowest settings we had because our temperatures increased after my car picked up some debris from the track."

"The balance of the car wasn't perfect but still quite good. I caught Button up after the 2nd stop but it is too difficult to pass here. Overall I am very happy with today's result, especially because I have collected some points."

Mark Webber:

"I started on the dirty side of the track which wasn't ideal at this place but then I had a fairly good race. Collecting some points today was really good. Also it's a good moral booster for everyone who works flat out back at the factory, finally we had some good news for them too."

Sam Michael (Technical Director, WilliamsF1):

"We are definitely making progress on the car. We did not choose the best pit stop strategy - Nick should have done a 3 stop, Mark was okay on a 2 stop due to his earlier qualifying yesterday. We went longer than anybody else before the first stop, so we had the most fuel on board in qualifying."

"On Nick's car we had to turn the engine down during the entire first stint due to some debris in the water radiator duct, which was removed at the 1st pit stop. Most encouraging is the pace improvement of the car. We have been running within 0.8 seconds of the fastest cars on this maximum downforce circuit. Well done to the people who have worked so hard in Grove to contribute to improving the car, we look forward to more."

Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director):

"We should be satisfied having collected some points after starting from positions 12 and 16. The race gave the explanation for our qualifying positions, since our drivers had the highest fuel load. Still, in the race they were able to climb up the field."

"Nick had a problem with the engine water temperature because after the hectic first lap he picked up some debris and partly closed the airflow of the radiator. This forced Nick to race at lowered power until his first pit-stop, when the airflow was cleared. Apart from that, both the drivers didn't experience any problems."

Nick Heidfeld: 6th
Best time: 1:22.053 (lap 53, 6th overall)
Chassis: FW27 03
BMW P84/5 Engine: 1st GP

Mark Webber: 7th
Best time: 1:22.453 (lap 47, 9th overall)
Chassis: FW27 04
(T-Car FW27 06)
BMW P84/5 Engine: 1st GP

-williams-