Encouragingly
Nico Rosberg was able to bring the car home in ninth place, although that result came after running in eighth for the majority of the race until he lost out to Jacques Villeneuve after the final pit stop. It means
Williams have now gone three races without so much as a point and are now, somewhat ironically, slipping further behind
BMW in the constructors’ race.
Still, hopes are high going to Canada that they will be able to turn the form book around again and challenge for points, particularly after an encouraging test at Monza.
“I’m looking forward to the two North American races. It’s always good returning to Montreal because the atmosphere reminds me of Melbourne in some ways. It’s a bit more relaxed than some of our more recent races, and the track is set in a nice location.
“The circuit requires a completely different aerodynamic package to the ones we’ve used for the first part of the season, which means a low to medium downforce level to help our top speeds. It also means we could see a slight change in performance from some teams as it’s a fresh opportunity to find pace, I’m certainly hoping it’ll provide us with a chance to improve our performance in the right direction.”
Rosberg meanwhile comes to Canada for the first time and he too still has an eye on points in the race despite his lack of experience. “I'm really looking forward to the Canadian Grand Prix for two big reasons. Firstly, we had a good test in Monza last week running the low to medium downforce set-up so everything is in order for the Montreal track.
“We should be stronger there than we were at
Silverstone and we have the potential to score some points. The second reason is that everybody keeps telling me that the Canadian Grand Prix is one of the nicest races of the season. It will be my first time there and, although that makes it a greater challenge, I'm looking forward to getting everything out of it that I can.”
Honda Racing F1 – Rubens Barrichello (#11), Jenson Button (#12):
Despite having the might of the British fans behind him, Jenson Button and Honda will want to forget the British Grand Prix in a hurry, having missed the cut to get into the second qualifying stage and then succumbing to mechanical woes just a few laps into the race.
