AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX - POST RACE SUMMARY
GRID STOPS (LAP) BEST LAP RESULT
N ROSBERG P7 2 (21,43) 1:28.090, 5th 3rd
K NAKAJIMA P13 1 (29)1 1:29.639, 14th 6th
SYNOPSIS
The team had a difficult start to the weekend when a newly
introduced gearbox component failed in both cars in the first
practice session on Friday. This required both drivers to
sit out the session while remedial work was undertaken. While
Kazuki had an untroubled second session and started to gain
valuable track time, Nico’s differential lock was not
working and it was not possible to correct during the session.
The decision was taken to continue practice albeit the car
was far from optimal. Saturday morning’s practice was
thus important in order to progress set-up work with both
cars running at full pace without any reliability issues.
Qualifying was compromised by the red flag in Q2, with Rosberg
having to contest Q3 on used option tyres and Kazuki losing
the opportunity for a second flying lap.
Rosberg had a very strong start to the Grand Prix on Sunday,
moving up three places to fourth on the first lap. He held
station in this position for the first stint, climbing up
to second as cars ahead of him made their first stops. Kazuki
by contrast had an eventful first lap, finding Vettel’s
Toro Rosso sideways across the track blocking his way in turn
one. The collision required a return to the pits for a new
nose assembly.
Rosberg completed his two stop plan largely unaffected by
the various safety car periods, but a decision was taken on
the pitwall to modify Kazuki’s strategy to a single
stop. A hard charge by Rosberg prior to his second stop enabled
him from lap 49 to hold third place to the flag. Kazuki however
visited the pits for a third time after damage to the front
of his car in an incident involving Robert Kubica’s
BMW when a train of cars backed up into a corner. He rejoined
to finish in seventh place and drove strongly to the end.
He was subsequently promoted to sixth following Barrichello’s
disqualification for not observing the pitlane red light.
The absence of traction control contributed to an eventful
race. As Nico Rosberg commented, “We saw lots of incidents
in yesterday’s race, due I am sure in part to the Grand
Prix being the first since the banning of traction control.
As much as thanking the team for everything they did, I have
to say a big thank you to Toyota too as one of the most significant
virtues of our engine is that is very driveable. This was
a great asset to have since the loss of driver aids and helped
me to have a strong race considering that only seven cars
made it home.”
1 Kazuki pitted on three occasions on laps 1, 29 & 48,
making his first and last stop for a new nose
TYRES & FUEL
Nico Rosberg Medium-Medium-Soft
Kazuki Nakajima Medium-Medium-Soft-Medium
Nico Rosberg Stop 1, lap 21 (Kovalainen only two-stopping
car to run further)
Kazuki Nakajima Modified strategy to one stop
SYSTEMS & RELIABILITY
Both FW30s demonstrated 100% reliability during the race,
although Friday practice was interrupted by two resolvable
faults with the transmission.
NEXT EVENTS
The team is currently in transit to Malaysia for this weekend’s
Malaysian Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg will attend a driver day
in Singapore for RBS on Tuesday 18 March.
SAM MICHAEL
“It was a good start to the season for us. Clearly
Friday’s problems, which were easily resolved, cost
us the opportunity to progress smoothly but we managed to
get back on track by Saturday, albeit our qualifying session
was not optimal. Both drivers performed well in different
ways during the race, Nico keeping clear of the various on-track
incidents and running competitively throughout the race, while
Kazuki demonstrated a calm approach in coping with the various
problems he encountered to finish in the points. Approaching
this weekend’s race at Sepang, we will be focusing on
preparing better on Friday to help our qualifying and race
effort.”
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