| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
After an incredible win in Spain, expectations were running high in the Williams camp coming into Monaco. However, a disastrous Saturday for Pastor Maldonado, where the Venezuelan had a silly run-in with Sergio Perez in the morning practice session earned him a 10 place grid penalty. Maldonado's weekend was to get worse as his grid penalty and a change in gear box forced the Williams driver to start today's race from 24th and last place on the grid. This effectively ruined the race for Maldonado on a track where overtaking is near impossible.
The race brought no change in luck for the Williams team as their drivers struggled to impose themselves on the daunting streets. A quicker Williams from the last row on the grid promised action with the back-markers present in front of it on the starting grid. Maldonado though turned from, hero to zero in the space of a race weekend as he hit Pedro De La Rosa at the hairpin on the very first lap. The race ended early for the driver with his car having to be lifted off the track.
His teammate Bruno Senna drove a careful race as the sole remaining Williams on track. After the first round of pit stops the Brazilian was a solid 14th, but a long way off scoring points. The driver though kept going and was rewarded by some retirements ahead of him to finish in the last points scoring position in 10th.
Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer: Whilst we are pleased to get a point today with Bruno we are equally frustrated as the car and drivers had much more pace than those immediately in front of them. Unfortunately Pastor's race ended on the first lap as he hit Pedro de la Rosa who was in turn braking hard due to the Grosjean incident ahead. Bruno drove a very good race pushing Räikkönen hard all the way to the end, but could simply not get past despite trying hard. We will now regroup for Canada and hope to do a better job in Montreal.
Bruno Senna: I’m happy we got a point from a very tough race. We deserved more and I felt we could be stronger than this, but today it didn’t happen and so we did the best we could do. It’s good to be in the top 10 but I have bitter-sweet feelings. Now we are fired up for Canada and I’m really looking forward to that race. I have a lot of confidence that we are getting there with the set-up of the car, so I can’t wait to get going again.
Pastor Maldonado: It was a difficult weekend from my side. I am disappointed because I was expecting something more from the race. We had a great strategy, but after a good start I was in the middle of the track, and got a bit unlucky caught up in cars fighting ahead. I locked up and couldn't stop the car on the dirty side of the track at turn six. The weekend was compromised after we received the penalties yesterday so we are now looking forward to the next race. We have a competitive car and it will be completely different in Canada, it’s a different track and a different situation.
Laurent Debout, Renault Sport F1 team support leader: Monaco is a challenging track for engine engineers as it’s unlike any other circuit on the calendar due to the high number of low speed corners. But this weekend has been difficult overall. Starting so far back means it is hard to make up positions so one point for Bruno is a reasonable result. We’re looking forward to Montreal for a better outcome.
Click here for the Comprehensive Race Report
- 27/05/2012 20:33 - Mixed fortunes for Mercedes in Monaco as Rosberg finishes 2nd while Schumacher retires
- 27/05/2012 16:08 - Webber wins Monaco Grand Prix, Rosberg and Alonso complete the podium places
- 27/05/2012 16:00 - Disappointing Monaco outing for McLaren with Hamilton finishing 5th and Button failing to register any points