Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima has been penalised for colliding with Robert Kubica during last weekend s race in Australia. Nakajima smacked into the rear of Kubica s car on lap 47, forcing the Polish driver to retire. Nakajima was more fortunate and managed to continue on to the pits, have his nosecone replaced, and continue with the race.
The incident, which occurred under safety car conditions, has ensured that the young Japanese driver will be given a 10 place grid penalty at the Malaysian Grand Prix.
Despite having a chaotic race Nakajima had to pit twice for new bodywork he is pleased with the way the race went and is pleased to have kept his record of finishing all Formula 1 races he has competed in so far.
“To get to the end today was great great to finish and great to get some points!†Nakajima said. “It was really tough out there today physically, but on top of that there was so much going on.
“At the start, a car spun in front of me, turned side on, and damaged my nose. Then, with various safety car periods, the team did a great job to swap my strategy to a one-stop that put my in the points.
“Towards the end of the race I had another incident when all the cars backed up into each other and I damaged my nose again. But it was good to be able to demonstrate my physical fitness and my consistency and I m looking forward to Sepang which is a circuit I know better.â€
Nakajima managed to win three points for his team, a total which was boosted by Nico Rosberg finishing in third place. The points haul from the drivers mean that at this early stage in the season, Williams are second in the constructors championship, a fact which pleases Williams technical director Sam Michael.
“It is a fantastic start to the season we knew we had the potential in the car but didn t realise it because of the reliability problems we had in practice. But that all came out in the race,†Michael said.
“Nico kept his head down through lots of difficult situations he had good strong car pace through the race and congratulations to him for his first podium. Kazuki did well too despite being involved in two incidents.
“Both cars had solid reliability throughout the race and it is great to go away with a haul of points from the first grand prix.â€
