Williams not satisfied with Canada result

Although Williams had both drivers on the podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team is not satisfied with the result after having pole position and a one-two lead early in the race. Ralf Schumacher was pole-sitter and led from the start from ...

Although Williams had both drivers on the podium at the Canadian Grand Prix, the team is not satisfied with the result after having pole position and a one-two lead early in the race. Ralf Schumacher was pole-sitter and led from the start from teammate Juan Pablo Montoya but it was short lived. Montoya spun, causing him to drop a few places and Michael Schumacher beat Ralf to the lead in the first round of pit stops.

Ralf Schumacher and Michael Schumacher.

Photo by Michael Kim.

"I am not really satisfied," said team boss Frank Williams. "We started on pole and finished second. We were hopeful of winning, probably had a good chance, but in the pit stops Michael pulled out a quicker out and in lap than us."

Williams was also cautious about the team's upswing in performance in Monaco and Canada: "The last two races were on peculiar circuits. They don't require the same car characteristics as other circuits and we will see at the next race where we really are."

Come the end of the Canadian GP, Ralf and Montoya were nose-to-tail behind Michael but neither could find a way past. Technical director Patrick Head was frustrated not to get a win but said it was important to get a result for the team and not risk the drivers taking each other off.

"With the terminal speed and power of the Ferrari and its traction out of the last corner, presumably there was just no way past." Head said. "It was a bit frustrating to finish second because one has got to remember that at the end on the first lap we were lying first and second."

"We spoke to the drivers before the race and told them a team result was important -- we weren't going to be enthusiastic about one driver taking another off."

Both Williams drivers had another problem to cope with; each had a broken wing mirror that was bouncing about and sometimes hitting them. Head thinks it was the additional weight of cameras that caused the mirrors to detach from their mountings.

"We will have to try and avoid running a camera in them," he explained. "The FIA wants us to do that occasionally and it's the weight of the camera that causes it. It's clearly changed the natural frequency and the bond at the bottom had gone. We've got to beef them up a bit more."