Formula 1 news

Disappointing qualifying for Williams

The Williams team was left disappointed when Mark Webber failed to get past the first knockout stage of qualifying and Nico Rosberg ended up twelfth on the grid.

"It's a bit disappointing not to have the cars further up the grid because we have been competitive here testing and in practice," said technical director Sam Michael. "Nico got the best out of the car in qualifying, but unusually for Mark, he didn't make it through Q1. The car looks consistent on long runs, so we'll be looking to try and capitalise on strategy tomorrow and pick up some points."

Rosberg commented, "I was pretty happy with the car, it felt good and I thought I could achieve a good grid position, maybe as high as 7th or 8th. I went into Q2 and normally the oversteer goes away as you go further into qualifying and we usually get stronger and stronger, but today the car went the other way. As the track changed during the session, I found myself lacking rear grip. However, we have good tyres for the race tomorrow and I am confident we can get a positive result."

Webber added, "It was a tough session for me today - I've never had too much of a problem with qualifying in the past, but today I couldn't find the car for some reason. I was struggling for pace and couldn't get close to Nico, even though I had saved new tyres for qualifying so it was a surprise - not quick enough, it's as simple as that!"

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