Interview Sam Michael (Williams)

Sam, both cars finished the GP. Given the recent reliability problems of the FW33, what satisfaction do you take from this result?
Although the FW33's progress in terms of reliability is satisfactory, we cannot take any satisfaction from not being in the points. However, the gap between 15th and 10th place is not that big. Our goal is to score points.

A red flag in Q2 damaged Barrichello's chances. Where did you think he could have qualified?
Rubens could have qualified better if there had not been these session interruptions. After the problems faced by Webber and Petrov, I thought he would be able to qualify in the top 8 with the option tires he had left.

You tested some new things on Rubens' car during free practice. Where were they and what conclusions did you draw from them?
We had a number of new parts in China. The most visible was the new exhaust system on Rubens' car during free practice. We saw some positive signs during the acceleration phase, but unfortunately we had some reliability issues with certain parts of the floor burning and at the same time causing a deterioration in our aerodynamic performance. We are therefore in the process of redesigning certain parts in order to introduce an improved version of this exhaust system at the Barcelona GP.

Three weeks now separate us from the next GP in Türkiye. Can we expect even more improvements on the FW33 at Istanbul Park?
We will introduce a new floor, a new front wing, a new rear wing and a new brake cooling system. We hope that this will allow our drivers to gain the few tenths currently separating them from the top 10.

Discover in your AUTOhebdo magazine, on newsstands tomorrow, the analysis of the Chinese Grand Prix by our special correspondents in Shanghai.