The AT&T Williams team claimed a handful of points in the blue riband Monaco Grand Prix today after Nico Rosberg claimed a creditable sixth position, in the process demonstrating some of the standout overtaking manoeuvres in the early part of the race despite the constraints of the narrow street circuit. The FW31 showed good inherent pace around the streets of the Principality, but both drivers were unable to press any advantage home and after the rounds of pitstops had played out, both drivers reverted to their original grid positions out on the track. Nico’s team-mate Kazuki Nakajima took a different direction with a long fuelled first stint that saw him hold his grid position almost to the finish, but a late accident on lap 76 concluded his Monaco race.
Nico Rosberg:
I’ve got to be happy with sixth place today, more just wasn’t possible and we did the best we could have in the circumstances. It was a great start with lots going on, but I managed to come through and it set me up well for the early phase of the race. We then did a long middle stint on primes as we were worried about the durability of the option tyre, but they seemed to hold on much better than expected in the last stint, perhaps due to the amount of rubber down on the circuit by the end of the race. That said, I always enjoy racing here, it is a huge challenge that requires you to be inch perfect and it was very demanding out there.
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Kazuki Nakajima:
The start and the initial part of the race was good for me, but ultimately it was frustrating as I always seemed to be picking up traffic out of the pitlane or responding to blue flags and then losing track position to the one-stoppers. In the final analysis the outcome was disappointing, I was on the option tyre and I was pushing perhaps too hard when I had my accident nearly at the finish, but at least I had a good feeling with the car today.
Sam Michael, Technical Director:
It was good to collect some points today and Nico drove well, unfortunately we were on a compromise strategy as a result of yesterday’s qualifying, so it was always going to be quite difficult for Nico to beat the guys around him, but he did well to earn some points. It was difficult to progress Kazuki somewhere like Monaco where you can’t overtake. The car was good in terms of pace around here and if we keep pushing the development, the performance will start to show through.
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