Assessment: In a matter of minutes, Williams finds himself at rock bottom

Williams had planned to score big points but probably did not expect to experience such a dark end to the weekend. In a flash, both drivers of the Grove team found themselves knocked out. Nico Rosberg had a gearbox problem which led him to retire while Kazuki Nakajima had a spectacular off-track excursion.

Rosberg had a great start to occupy 4th place, but he was quickly caught up by the mechanics of his FW31. Nakajima had quite a scare that could have cost him dearly. It was once again a driving error on his part that was the cause. No points were brought back from Brazil.

Nico Rosberg – Retirement:

« I had a good start and so I was able to stay clear of the incidents around me at the start of the race. Kubica overtook me on the restart, when the safety car came out, I was fourth. We had a strong strategy and a pace that allowed us to face the competition. Everything was going well until this gearbox problem. After a promising weekend, this result is frustrating. »

Kazuki Nakajima – Retirement:

« We were lucky to gain a few places at the start and progress through the ranks with all the incidents. It was harder afterward; I couldn’t maintain my position and got stuck behind cars. We were having a decent race until the accident. I’m disappointed it ended this way. »

Rod Nelson – Chief Operations Engineer

« A disappointing end to a very promising weekend. We struggled in the dry on Friday, but the ambient humidity during the qualifying session really helped us. Despite having a reasonably high level of downforce today, we were quite competitive in the race. Nico couldn’t keep Kubica behind him, but he was fighting for fourth place before what appears to be a gearbox failure. Kazuki was also doing well until an incident midway through the race forced him to retire. Fortunately, Kazuki was not injured. »