Williams was buoyed by its much-improved pace in the Australian Grand Prix, with both Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna having demonstrated strong capabilities over the race weekend. Tragically for the former, sixth place was lost when the Venezuelan lost control and crashed heavily on the final lap.
As Maldonado hit the concrete wall at Turn 7, throwing away eight points just half a lap from home, Senna ran into contact with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari at Turn 4.
“The car looked good today,” said Maldonado, who was on course to score more points in one race than the team managed in the whole of 2011. “Our pace was quick and consistent and we were looking competitive right up until the moment I had on the last lap, which is very important. Unfortunately, I just lost the back of the car while pushing Alonso and I had nowhere to go.”
Senna also shared his version of events, which included a spin at the first corner after making contact with Daniel Ricciardo’s Toro Rosso.
“I had a great start, but I tried to take the outside line at the first corner and I felt someone make contact with me,” the Brazilian recalled. “I then had to do an extra pit-stop, which made things difficult. My race was looking better but then I had a tangle with Massa, so luck wasn’t on our side today. That’s racing though and we now look forward to making up for it in Malaysia next weekend.”
This year, Williams is running with Renault-branded engines for the first time since its title-winning campaign with Jacques Villeneuve in 1997.
- Maldonado's last lap crash can be viewed at GPUpdate TV
Series
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Bruno Senna
Pastor Maldonado
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  J. Button | McLaren | 1:34:09.565 |
| 2. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | +2.139 |
| 3. | L. Hamilton | McLaren | +4.075 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +4.547 |
| 5. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +21.565 |
| 6. | K. Kobayashi | Sauber | +36.766 |
| 7. | K. Raikkonen | Lotus | +38.014 |
| 8. | S. Perez | Sauber | +39.458 |
| 9. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +39.556 |
| 10. | P. di Resta | Force India | +39.737 |
| Full results | |||
| Pastor Maldonado | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| More Pastor Maldonado photos | |||
| Bruno Senna | |||
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| More Bruno Senna photos | |||
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