If you’re a fan of AT&T Williams F1 or not, you have to be excited about the result of the European Grand Prix with Rubens Barrichello finishing in fourth place. The team has struggled greatly in 2010 but last weeks result has given Williams fans some hope. Barrichello says hold your applause:
“Silverstone is a very different track, one that I love very much, but it’s high speed, although it’s a new circuit and I’ve seen in MotoGP that you have some slow-speed.
“If we perform the same way, or even better, at Silverstone, I think we’re going to perform better all the way through.”
Williams F1 brought their version of the F-Duct and while it may have assisted the team in their performance in Valencia, Barrichello thinks the track may had a hand in the result. That may be true and Mercedes GP’s trouble certainly helped as well but in F1, position and opportunity is fleeting and you have to put yourself in a position to capitalize in order to finish 4th which is exactly what Williams did.
Clean pit stops, no errors in driving, no mechanical failures, improved car performance and a culmination of attrition and opportunity has given Williams fans a reason to cheer and with new upgrades coming for this weekends race at Silverstone, there is a possibility that Williams F1 may just be back where they should be.
“The F-duct is always a plus on the car,” he said.
“People think that you put the F-duct on, it works fantastically and you have 10km/h more – it’s not like that.”
But he thinks Williams has definitely been creeping forwards recently and is heading in the right direction.
“The actual characteristic of the car have changed since Montreal, we’ve changed the way the downforce works on the car,” Barrichello explained.
“We changed some parts and we made it better.
“It was already better in Canada, but Canada is not a track where you can show much.”
Williams F1’s troubles have certainly been painful this year and their new engine supply from Cosworth was anticipated as a litmus test for the engine manufacturers product but it’s been difficult to assess which is a limiting factor as aero and shove have been accused as being the culprits so far.
Ultimately Silverstone should be a good test for the team and I agree with Barrichello that if they can perform there, they should be looking good for a recovery in the remaining races in 2010. The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is to get Nico Hulkenberg to perform on par with his veteran teammate as points now are the key to Williams 2011 season.
