Coulthard Fears Webber will Hold him Up
Briton David Coulthard gave a measure of Williams' present predicament on Saturday after qualifying 13th for the British Grand Prix
The Red Bull driver said he feared being held up by Australian Mark Webber's car at Silverstone.
"We looked strong yesterday and I would expect that the pace we showed in the first two practice sessions will come through in the race tomorrow," the Scot said.
"I wanted to qualify in front of Webber, as I think our car is quicker than his in races and his pace might hold us up. We'll just have to hope that we're carrying more fuel than he is," he added.
Former champions Williams have not won all season and followed up their worst qualifying performance of the year so far, in France last weekend, with another disappointing afternoon.
Webber, who burned his hip at the last race, qualified 12th but moves up to 11th because McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen loses 10 places on the starting grid as a penalty for an unscheduled engine change.
Germany's Nick Heidfeld was 14th, just as he had been at Magny-Cours.
Their times were no surprise, given the impossibility of any testing between the races, but an embarrassment for a team whose engine supply for 2006 remains uncertain after BMW's decision to buy Sauber.
Williams' last success was with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya in Brazil last October and that remains their sole win in the last 32 races.
The British-based team, winners of nine constructors' titles, have had just 10 victories since Canadian Jacques Villeneuve won the World Championship with them in 1997.
"Nick and I are still not quick enough," said Webber. "We really need to find more grip."
The Australian said he and Heidfeld had decided to run their cars with different set ups to compare the data, with the German running the old aerodynamics package on Saturday while Webber used a new configuration.
"We hope we will get it right for Hockenheim. We've got to work hard, even if it's not easy at the moment," said Webber.
The German Grand Prix is on July 24.
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About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Drivers | David Coulthard , Mark Webber |
| Author | Alan Baldwin |
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