Best finish of 2010 (Williams race review)

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Rubens Barrichello gave Williams their best result of the year so far.

But with Nico Hulkenberg running in the points before retiring with a broken exhaust, they could have taken more away from their European Grand Prix weekend.

Rubens BarrichelloNico Hulkenberg
Qualifying position98
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)1’38.428 (+0.000)1’38.428
Race position4
Average race lap1’46.232 (-1.18)1’47.412
Laps57/5749/57
Pit stops11

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Rubens Barrichello

Both drivers set identical lap times to within 0.001s during qualifying. Barrichello had to start behind his team mate as Hulkenberg set the time first.

By the end of lap one Barrichello was ahead of his team mate and Mark Webber too. As the safety car demoted the Ferraris he was eventually promoted to fourth.

But he had to fend off attacks from Robert Kubica, particularly when he came across the aftermath of the Timo Glock-Bruno Senna collision.

Compare Rubens Barrichello’s form against his team mate in 2010

Nico Hulkenberg

Wasn’t able to use the team’s version of the F-duct as it wouldn’t fit around his seat, Hulkenberg being taller than his team mate. The team expect to have it working for him at Silverstone.

He qualified well but was frustrated to slip down the order while waiting behind his team mate in the pits. After the re-start he was passed by Fernando Alonso.

But he retired eight laps from home while running tenth with a cracked exhaust pipe, leaving him kicking the barrier with frustration.

Compare Nico Hulkenberg’s form against his team mate in 2010

2010 European Grand Prix

    Browse all 2010 European Grand Prix articles

    Author information

    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    15 comments on “Best finish of 2010 (Williams race review)”

    1. Poor Hulkenburg, man you would be kicking the walls, just as you were about to shut up all these pesky f1fanatics with their, you haven’t been performing crap, an the damn car fails on you.

      Ah well such is life.

    2. Great to see both Williamses in the top 10. Only wish they would go back to being Williams-Renault

      1. Yes, a good day for a team that is purely a ‘racing team’ I am pleased that they are getting the car to work well, it will be nice if they can keep on picking up some points, just for the extra dosh they can use to continue improving…

      2. miguelF1O (@)
        29th June 2010, 18:33

        what if williams ferrari strange mix i there are too many teams with mercedes and mercedes doesnt want to supply more teams so other good engines left are renault and ferrari redbull has renault and they are always complaining about the power cause they know from previous year by their work with the other redbull team toro rosso as you know red bull in italian that ferrari engines have more bhp but fuel economy may not be as good as renaults i miss mid 90s williams

      3. You obviously were not around to see them in the original Cosworth days!?

    3. Although it’s really great for Williams to have a car finish in fourth, I think the penalties for speeding during the safetycar shouldn’t be punished with a five second penalty afterwards. It should have been 20 seconds. So Barrichello would be sixth then, which is still respectable.

    4. If we had the simple rule that the pace car picks up the leading car & all follow for one complete lap before being allowed to pit things would be easier to follow and no speeding could happen! It works for Nascar as shown two weeks ago so it can work for F1, maybe the cars need a different dashboard signal – for a full course level with a maximum top speed, to allow the pace car to get into position and control the subsequent events?

      1. Well said P. Rippon. I’m a fan of Nascar as well and the Safety car rule as well as some other flag rules works well.

        1. I AM NOT! a fan of NASCAR,
          I just enjoy watching it and a lot of their rules are pretty sorted.

          So I agree on this one.

      2. I agree, but I wonder if it would be difficult for the pace car to pick up the leader on an F1 track with all its slow turns as opposed to a high speed American oval.

    5. Charles Carroll
      29th June 2010, 13:38

      I hope things continue to improve with Cosworth. I like having them in the sport, and I think they can make some top flight engines in the coming years. This is the their first season back, so it will take some time. This race, however, showed promise with all but Hulkenberg having no engine trouble.

      1. I agree Charles, they’ve done surprisingly well considering. Williams are pretty much where they were last year if not slightly better.

        They were certainly the surprise of the weekend, where did that pace come from all of a sudden?

    6. miguelF1O (@)
      29th June 2010, 18:37

      when Hulk released some smoke was it related to the exhaust system? by the images it looked like the car was melting specially the bodywork and the tyre could williams bring him in and try to do something i remenber some exhaust problems in the past that werent terminal

    7. I’m a big Kobayashi fan, but I find it interesting that I’ve seen no articles about Rubens Barrichello’s drive to fourth place in his Williams until now.

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