Williams Racing denied first 2020 points in cruel finish
By Williams Racing
September 14 2020
The results of the 2020 Tuscany GP would see Williams Racing finish with drivers George Russell in 11th while Nicholas Latifi was listed as a DNF. But these result do not fully explain firstly the chaos of the race and secondly how close the Williams team came to scoring their first points of the season. The race would see a series of incidents starting with a Safety Car period coming from an accident involving several cars after the start. This was followed by a restart that would see a major crash on the start straight which would see Nicholas crashing out. This would see a Red Flag and a further restart followed by a later crash involving Stroll. At this time George was running in ninth but with a further Red Flag and restart his prospects for scoring points would disappear after a poor start from which he would not recover coming home 11th. Such a disappointing result for Williams Racing
Williams Racing Tuscany Race Review
Race Notes
• George Russell finished 11th in an action-packed Tuscan Grand Prix at
Mugello
• Nicholas Latifi’s race came to an unfortunate end early on with the
Canadian caught up in a four-car accident on a safety car restart
• George started the race 18th , with Nicholas lining up 19th, both on
the medium compound tyre
• George took the opportunity to change onto a new set of the medium
compound tyres during the first red flag period. He then pitted on lap
29 for the hard tyre, before making a final stop for the soft compound
on lap 43 of the race
Nicholas Latifi:
"For the restarts at this track, we knew that the leader was going
to go as late as possible because of how far forward the line is along
with the slip stream effect. When you are in the middle to the back of
the pack, the concertina effect is always much more exaggerated
especially as these cars are so fast. I almost hit Kevin (Magnussen) in
the apex of the last corner when everyone braked again, and then again
it seemed that everyone went, and you are just reacting to the cars
around you. The cars ahead then braked once more and there was nothing
that I could do to avoid it. It is unfortunate because we avoided the
chaos at the start and picked up quite a few positions. I was excited to
see how the race was going to unfold, but that is racing sometimes."
George Russell:
"It’s such a shame as the race was under control, and I was in P9 before
the last red flag. I was driving like hell, everything was stable, the
tyres were good, and I was ready to bring the car home. With the last
restart, we had some wheel spin and this made the final stint very
difficult.
I am disappointed for myself and the team as I feel like we deserved
that. Under normal
circumstances with the great initial start we had, we would have been in
the points."
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer:
"At the end of an incident packed race we are disappointed not to have
finished in the points. We anticipated a complicated race and had
prepared accordingly, but we couldn’t quite take full advantage.
Both cars started well and made good progress on the opening lap,
running 11th and 13th when the first safety car was deployed. At the
subsequent restart, Nicholas was very unlucky to get hit by the cars
behind as the pack concertinaed approaching the control line. With
George, we made good tyre and strategy decisions throughout the race to
get him to ninth place at the second safety car, and in a position to
race Leclerc for eighth. Frustratingly the subsequent red flag lost us
track position and allowed Grosjean and Raikkonen to un-lap themselves.
We had a poor final stint, losing places at the restart and then
struggling to overtake Vettel.
Overall, we did a good job this weekend and worked very hard to
deservedly get ourselves into a
strong position in the race. We now need to refine the small details to
elevate our race performance from very good to excellent."
Track: Mugello Circuit, Italy
Lap Length: 5.25 km, 3.262 miles
Weather: Hot, sunny and dry
Temperature: Air: 30-31°C Track: 39-46°C
Dave Robson, Senior Race Engineer:
"At the end of an incident packed race we are disappointed not to have finished in the points. We anticipated a complicated race and had prepared accordingly, but we couldn’t quite take full advantage.
Both cars started well and made good progress on the opening lap, running 11th and 13th when the first safety car was deployed. At the subsequent restart, Nicholas was very unlucky to get hit by the cars behind as the pack concertinaed approaching the control line. With George, we made good tyre and strategy decisions throughout the race to get him to ninth place at the second safety car, and in a position to race Leclerc for eighth. Frustratingly the subsequent red flag lost us track position and allowed Grosjean and Raikkonen to un-lap themselves. We had a poor final stint, losing places at the restart and then struggling to overtake Vettel.
Overall, we did a good job this weekend and worked very hard to deservedly get ourselves into a
strong position in the race.
We now need to refine the small details to elevate our race performance from very good to excellent."
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