Richard Williams commenting on the 10th Round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup at Spa-Francorchamps
“At the start of qualification I was aiming for top 10. The first part of qualifying was good; I was able to make full use of track conditions and ended up being fifth fastest. During the top ten shoot out for final starting positions, I made a slight mistake, which cost me a better starting place, but I was pleased to be in the top ten for race.
“Spa is one of my favourite tracks and it is very demanding. The long middle section is where time is won and lost. However the car was running well, I had a decent start and altogether really enjoyed the race. 3 laps from the end I was closing in on Rosina, but wasn’t able to take advantage to finish fifth, but I’m still happy with sixth for the final result.
“Overall the team is doing well and if the car keeps up this performance it should be lots of fun in Monza.”
Richard Williams achieves 5th place in Valencia.
The extreme heat put drivers under immense pressure at Valencia and after having qualified in 10th position Richard Williams had a great race to finish 5th.
“I had a fantastic start and was glad to avoid the troubles at the first corner. This difficult and unfamiliar street track, coupled with intense heat provided quite a challenge, so it was really important not to make any mistakes. Whilst I had to slow down a bit I am delighted with the overall result for our team.
“We’re all now looking forwards to Spa – almost a home race for us!”
After having struggled with the car during qualifying, Richard Williams got off to a great start in Budapest.
He continued to make good ground until 4 laps from the end, at turn eleven when a broken suspension arm sent the car spinning into the barrier.
He is now hoping for his series of bad luck to come to an end in Valencia and improved results for the rest of the 2009 season.
After making 8th place in qualification, to finish 6th overall was not a bad result for Richard Williams. However, having progressed up to 4th place during the race, Richard was very frustrated to have not held his position.
Richard commented: “Finishing 6th is no bad thing, but I am disappointed.
I had a brilliant start and improved to 4th in the first lap...I was able to keep my position and keep pace with the top. However, during the final laps I struggled more and more with the setup of my car and finally had to settle for 6th. Nevertheless we are making progress and that’s the reason I’m looking forward to the next round in Budapest.”
After having previously done well in Budapest, Richard is looking forward to revisiting to the Hungarian track.
With the car showing much improvement and a new approach to qualification, Richard was delighted to achieve 4th on the grid on his ‘home’ track.
However a disappointing jump start meant that he received a drive-through penalty and was forced to settle for 12th place on the day.
Team manager Stephen Sohn commented:
“A very pleasant weekend for my team. Richard was strong for the whole weekend, and without his jump start would have claimed a top result in front of his local audience..”
Richard Williams scores points in Turkey.
After starting out 12th on the grid, Richard Williams had an excellent race, finishing in 8th place. Williams was in 8th for most of the race, lapping in 2.01.689 after 30 minutes and with two laps remaining.
With understeer in the car and blistering heat Richard Williams believed that this was the best result that he could have hoped for.
With typical optimism Richard is now looking forwards to a “home race in Silverstone” and that “it feels good to finish in the points after a disappointing race in Monaco.”
