Starts ruin race (Williams race review)

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Both Williams drivers qualified inside the top ten but poor starts condemned them to end the race point-less.

Rubens BarrichelloNico Hulkenberg
Qualifying position810
Qualifying time comparison (Q3)1’15.109 (-0.23)1’15.339
Race position1213
Average race lap1’19.970 (-0.01)1’19.980
Laps66/6766/67
Pit stops11

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Rubens Barrichello

Qualified eighth but was almost half a second slower in Q3 than he’d been in Q2.

Both FW32s were slow off the line, Barrichello lost two places to begin with then another place when he failed to cover off an attack from Kamui Kobayashi at the hairpin.

He ran ahead of Vitaly Petrov after that but the Renault driver got ahead by pitting later than the Williams.

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

Nico Hulkenberg

Like his team mate, Hulkenberg failed to better his Q2 time in Q3 and lost three places at the start, falling to 13th.

Unlike his team mate he ran a very long stint at the start – 34 laps on the super-softs, which suggested Bridgestone’s ‘extreme’ variation in tyre compounds was actually quite conservative.

His lap times had fallen off badly by the time he came in, the team realising there was no point in pitting him sooner as he would still lose the same number of places, and they hoped the safety car might make a useful appearance.

It didn’t, and he came back out of the pits in 14th, picking up one place by the end to finish within six tenths of a second of his team mate.

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

2010 German Grand Prix

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    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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    3 comments on “Starts ruin race (Williams race review)”

    1. Charles Carroll
      27th July 2010, 15:59

      Rubens could use some off-season drag racing experience. Either that, or he needs to stop nodding off at the start.

      1. To be fair they were stuck on the dirty side of the track, and it is one of those tracks where it makes a difference. Williams have also admitted that it is an issue with the car as well.

        Not arguing that drag racing practice wouldn’t help though!

        Actually it would be quite interesting to see f1 cars drag racing…

        1. Charles Carroll
          27th July 2010, 19:45

          I think an open challenge, open to all types of cars, would be even better!

          To be fair, I understand and I was being hyperbolic. But man, Rubens needs to shore up those starts! I like the guy, and he just drives me nuts when he shoots himself in the foot at the start.

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