Nico's Sao Paulo Blog: Sunday

Posted on Wednesday 21 Oct 2009 and tagged with nico, blog, sao-paulo, brazil.

My first retirement of 2009. Of course it’s disappointing – I was on course for another strong points finish – but, on the other hand, I have to thank the team for giving me such impeccable reliability until now.

Just after the re-start on lap five, the guys on the pitwall told me that there was a problem brewing with the gearbox. Initially, they thought I’d be able to continue; then the degradation of the ’box’s internals increased dramatically, so they asked me to retire the car before further damage occurred.

I was running in fourth place at the time and it’s fair to assume that I could have finished in that position as well. That would have helped AT&T Williams in its battle for sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship with BMW, which is getting quite tight following Robert Kubica’s second place in the race. There’s now a lot at stake in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time.

I head back to Europe tonight, although I’m not sure whether my BA flight to Heathrow is going to take off on time. I’m told it had an engine problem on the way over here, so I might have to stay in Sao Paulo an extra night while they fix it. What a hardship – this place is the best party city in the world!

One guy who will definitely be partying tonight is Jenson Button. Well done on winning the title, Jenson. You’ve had a brilliant season; you deserve it!

See you all soon,

Nico