Team mates no more ...
Right on the first day of the off-season Williams announced some decisions on the their 2011 drivers line up. Rubens Barrichello will stay on with team, Nico Hulkenberg however will not. The team will confirm their second driver before the end of the year. Current GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado has been connected with the team.
The AT&T Williams team today announced that Rubens Barrichello will continue to drive for the team in 2011. The team’s second driver will be confirmed before the end of the year.
Rubens Barrichello enjoyed a successful first season with Williams, and his 18th in the sport. The Brazilian drove his FW32 into the qualifying top ten a total of 13 times and claimed 10 points scoring finishes over the year, all of which helped the team move forward to sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship at yesterday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The team can also confirm that Nico Hulkenberg will not contest the 2011 FIA World Championship with AT&T Williams. Nico joined the squad as a rookie at the start of the season, following a dominating career in Formula 3 and GP2 supported by Williams. Convincing performances in his debut year in Formula One culminated in 14th place in the Drivers’ Championship and an undoubtedly bright future in the sport. The team wishes to thank Nico for his dedication and team work over the past year, and for delivering a memorable first pole position in five seasons for the team at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
“First, I would like to thank Nico for his hard work this year, and before that in preparing himself for Formula One. We are very proud to have supported him as he secured the Formula 3 and GP2 titles and during his debut in Formula One. At Williams we have for many years tried to bring new talent into the sport, and we are convinced that Nico will go on to great things. We wish him well and hope that our paths will cross again in the future.”
“We recruited Rubens to Williams knowing that he would bring technical expertise, experience and passion. He has delivered everything we could have hoped for this season and we are delighted to confirm that he will drive for us again in 2011.” – Frank Williams
Visit Nico Hulkenberg’s website to see his reaction to the split with Williams.
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With Nico’s recent perfomance…I am surprised by this. Perhaps it was more a monetary based decision than performance.
I would guess that the decisions about Massa, Schumacher, and Kubica will start the serious moves. I believe the Red Bull has confirmed both drivers for 2011, what about McLaren?
I don’t think there are any doubts about McLaren drivers for 2011, Hamilton Button, no change
I had not heard McLaren confirm drivers. What about Brawn Mercedes…have they confirmed Schumacher and Ferrari for Massa?
I believe Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes will go to next season with same drivers as this year. Lotus is likely to continue with Trulli and Kovalainen although no firm announcement was made, Toro Rosso also should continue with same drivers. Sauber already confirmed Kobayashi and Perez.
Kubica seems to be firmly in Renault seat, Glock in Virgin. Not much else has been confirmed yet.