Sergey Sirotkin compared trying to keep his Williams FW41 on track to “dancing on ice” during the early stages of Formula 1’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Williams has endured a dismal 2018 campaign, with rookie Sirotkin having made it into the top 10 just once when he was promoted to the final points-paying position in Italy.
Sirotkin made it through to Q2 at Interlagos but spent most of the race towards the back of the field, coming home in 16th spot, having run a Soft/Medium strategy.
“Straight away from the beginning, it was a very difficult race,” said Sirotkin.
“We were missing the pace of the cars around us. It was tricky during the first laps, I felt like I was dancing on ice, not just to fight but even to keep the car on track.
“I was trying to protect the positions and it ruined the rhythm, so it took a while to settle down.
“We never really had the pace to recover so all race it was about survival.
“It was very difficult to manage and keep everything under control for such a long stint, so very disappointed after a tricky race.”
Team-mate Lance Stroll finished as the final classified runner in 18th place.
“It was a long, hard race,” he said.“I had a good start and then I was just getting out of the way for blue flags and managing tyres, but ultimately that wasn't good enough as we were too slow.
“That is the nature of the track also, as it is very tight and there are not many corners, so it is tough to get out of the way.
“It was far from the most exciting race. The bottom line is we were not quick enough, and I am not sure we could have done anything with our strategy.”
