Sir Frank Williams sat quietly in the back of the team’s hospitality unit, his grin filling the room. He sipped a mug of tea, as he always does, through a straw while other well-wishers drank champagne and helped themselves to Sir Frank’s 70th birthday cake.
It’s been more than seven years since Williams was the centre of post-race celebrations. But the obvious respect for this team was driven by more than sentiment and a sense of history.
Pastor Maldonado’s win in Spain was earned the hard way; a battle from start to finish with Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. It was exactly the sort of victory Sir Frank would relish. Win number 114 had not been gifted.
Everything was as correct as it possibly could be. Maldonado, despite enormous pressure from the tenacious Alonso, did not put a wheel out of place; the Williams-Renault FW34 behaved perfectly and the tyres lasted a long final stint.
Probably the only man not surprised by all of this was Mark Gillan, Chief Operations Engineer and new to the Williams post half way through 2011. Speaking about Maldonado’s front row grid position on Saturday, Gillan – never one to blow his own trumpet – was very confident about an improvement in performance, largely through developments introduced at a recent test at Mugello.
“We’ve made a big step forward in the last four races,” said Gillan. “The car is competitive not only in qualifying but also on long runs. I’m confident we’re in the reckoning (for the race).”
And so it proved. From the moment Maldonado did his best to hold off Alonso, and then wisely backed out of it at the last instant, it was clear the Venezuelan was not going to squander the chance of at least putting Williams on the podium for the first time since 2008.
The team even had the confidence and audacity to take charge of the race by bringing in Maldonado for his crucial second stop ahead of Alonso rather than reacting to whatever the leading Ferrari might do. Maldonado put the hammer down on a clear track and, at the same time. Alonso was delayed by a backmarker and stayed out for another two laps; enough for Maldonado to take the lead.
But there was a long way to go. Particularly when Maldonado stopped ahead of the Ferrari for the third and final stop and left himself with 25 laps to run. Alonso would have 22 laps. The three-lap difference could be crucial but, in the end, it was Alonso who lost rear-end grip with seven laps to go. Until then Maldonado had resisted the pressure as the Ferrari closed in and got close enough to use DRS.
“You can’t call him (Maldonado) a pay driver now!” grinned Sir Frank, referring to media’s constant reference to the substantial sponsorship brought from Maldonado’s native Venezuela. “He’s a proper racer – as we’ve always known. He had his chance today – and he grabbed it.”
Part of the ‘chance’ was presented to Williams as McLaren accidentally under-fuelled Lewis Hamilton’s car, which meant he could not make it back to the pits at the end of a qualifying lap that should have put the Briton on pole by half a second. The stewards sent Hamilton to the back of the grid which, in turn, brought a superb two-stop drive into eight place. Had it not been for the inexcusable gaff by McLaren, Maldonado may have faced an even greater challenge. But that was mere speculation and did not detract from the celebration in the Williams hospitality area.
Saying that, the mood was to be severely dampened not long afterwards when a serious fire broke out in the Williams garage. Typically, neighbouring teams waded in with extinguishers, nine mechanics suffering from minor burns and smoke inhalation, one from Force India being removed to hospital.
But, when all said and done, nothing was going to remove one of the most welcome results in F1 for many years. It was the best birthday present Sir Frank could have wished for.
Drivers championship standings
Sebastian Vettel – 61 points
Fernando Alonso – 61
Lewis Hamilton – 53
Kimi Raikkonen – 49
Mark Webber – 48
Jenson Button – 45
Nico Rosberg – 41
Romain Grosjean – 35
Pastor Maldonado – 29
Sergio Perez – 22
Constructors championship standings
Red Bull-Renault – 109
McLaren-Mercedes – 98
Lotus-Renault – 84
Ferrari – 63
Mercedes – 43
Williams-Renault – 43
Sauber-Ferrari – 41
Force India-Mercedes – 18