“He is in more on his merit than not,” the 66-year-old underlined, “but he's still got some way to go. There is no pressure on him; that's the best way of avoiding accidents. Rather, there is modest, sculpted pressure on him.
“I would think he will have a long-term future in
Formula 1. He is clever and he does a lot of overtaking, some of which does not please the stewards – he knocked Kubica off and got a ten-place penalty, fair enough.
“He just needs time. If he were at
McLaren or one of the top three [teams], you guys would say ‘Kazuki, he's actually pretty good', because he could shine up there. I would imagine he will be at one of the two [Toyota-powered] teams [in 2009].”
Nakajima struggled in the French Grand Prix, however, as
Williams' recent strong form nosedived, coming home a lowly 15th – just in front of Rosberg, who had started from the rear of the grid with his Montreal penalty – and barely featuring race-long.
“It was a difficult race for us,” he acknowledged afterwards. “We decided to go for a two-stop strategy, which was the best direction to take under the circumstances. All weekend we've been suffering with a lack of pace and that hurt us during the race. We couldn't have done much better.”
“In Canada, I was fighting the Ferraris and the BMWs, and here I was fighting at the back of the pack,” rued a similarly downbeat Rosberg. “It's incredible, and not a very nice feeling.
“I thought I would be able to fight a bit more; I was giving it my all as usual, but the car simply didn't have the speed and it was very difficult. I am now looking to score some points at
Silverstone – at least I won't have a grid penalty there!”
The multiple world championship-winning outfit's esteemed director of engineering Patrick Head was also adamant that the squad cannot afford too many more weekends like that endured in mid-France, if it is to successfully defend the fourth position in the constructors' title chase it accomplished last year. Williams currently sits nine points adrift of
Red Bull Racing, the present occupiers of the spot.
