Formula One news
Rosberg would have been second, says Michael
30 September 2009Williams Technical Director Sam Michael is certain that Nico Rosberg's disappointing result in the Singapore Grand Prix could so easily have been a repetition of last year's second place finish in Marina Bay.
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| Nico qualified third on Saturday |
With Rosberg having made a super start to pass Sebastian Vettel off the line, all was lost in Williams' evening when its leading car strayed over the white line on the exit of the pit lane, resulting in a drive-through penalty. However, despite running second to Lewis Hamilton in the first stint of the race, Michael believes that Red Bull held the edge.
"Most likely, third behind Vettel," the Technical Director said when asked of a probable finishing position for Rosberg, "but he then would have inherited second place following Vettel's penalty, which came later on in the race. On pure pace, Lewis, Nico and Sebastian had the podium sewn up before the Safety Car."
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| Rosberg scored his last World Championship point in Belgium |
However, it was the threat of another Safety Car after Mark Webber's accident which anticipated some early pit lane activity and an eventual podium of Hamilton, Glock and Alonso. "I expected Nico to be in the top five, so getting into the top three in qualifying was a bonus," Sam continued. "Although his performance in Q2 was great, I was personally much more impressed by his strong lap times during the race."
With Williams having been consistent this year, an off-the-pace weekend in Italy has been followed by stronger results for Rosberg in Singapore. Is more of the same to come in Japan this weekend? "I expect us to be competitive but I'm not sure if we will be as strong as we were in Singapore," Michael admitted. "We're bringing some more upgrades to the FW31 for the race and our target will definitely be points, having missed out on them."
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