Williams have revealed the causes of both accidents suffered by their drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Rubens Barrichello. Hulkenberg crashed on the opening lap of the Monaco Grand Prix in the tunnel whilst Barrichello crashed into the barrier at the top of Beau Rivage.
Initially, the team wanted to look into the incidents once they were back at the factory however technical director Sam Michael has revealed that Hulkenberg’s crash was caused by a front wing failure thanks to first lap damage, and Barrichello’s crash was caused by a rear suspension failure. Michael has stressed that the failed parts were not new parts added in the latest upgrade to the cars.
“Rubens had a rear suspension failure,” Michael explained to Autosport. “We have a good idea which part is suspect, but to be completely sure we need to await the results of materials tests back at the factory. However, it won’t be an issue going forward.
“Nico had a clutch paddle sensor failure on the grid. He then touched the back of the HRT car in Turn 1 and this damaged the front wing mounting pillars. When he entered the tunnel, the front wing eventually failed and he understeered off into the wall.
“The parts that failed in the race were not new designs and they have been on the car since the start of the season.
“Of course we have a significant amount of workload to replace the damaged parts such as the diffusers and the front wings. However, both chassis were undamaged, which is positive.
“The FW32 was good in Monaco, certainly an improvement on the previous race, but we acknowledge that we have still got work to do to be more competitive. I am confident that our relative race pace will be an improvement on Barcelona, but as ever much depends on how the other teams manage to move forward too.
“But I can be confident that our direction of development is moving the right way. We have an upgrade plan for Istanbul, but our first priority at the moment is to consolidate the repairs on both race cars.”
