Williams have picked up a poultry five points so far this season and I believe it will be hard for the British outfit to improve on Rubens Barrichello 8^th position in Melbourne. Williams do have cause for an element of cautious optimism though.

The Sepang circuit in Malaysia is know to favour the faster cars and encourages plenty of overtaking but Rubens and particular Nico Hulkenberg haven’t done much of this so far this season.

In Australia I was impressed with Rubens’ drive which earned him and the team four points but this was helped by the conditions rather than the Williams’ raw pace. Hulkenberg again picked up no points but he was a sitting duck when Kamui Kobayashi crashed into him at turn six.

Williams’ Technical Director, Sam Michael has stated that the team will be bringing aerodynamic updates to Malaysia which sounds promising. Raw speed down the straights of the Sepang track is essential so there could be an improvement in this department meaning more overtaking.

However, the improvements won’t be huge ones until all the teams get back to Europe after the China Grand Prix so it remains to be seen whether Williams can get much out of these updates.

However small the improvements are It’s essential that the drivers get the most out of the updates and for the first time this season ‘The Hulk’ might be able to get something extra out of the car. Hulkenberg has past experience of driving on the Sepang circuit in his A1 days so the German won’t be at a disadvantage. The 22-year-old has admitted that Sepang isn’t his favourite circuit but the chance for plenty of overtaking from a possibly improved car can only be music to the ears of Hulkenberg.

With the potential of Hulkenberg doing well I also think Rubens will relish racing in Malaysia. We all know ‘Rubinho’ likes to throw the car about the track as if he’s a touring car driver and Malaysia gives him the chance to do this. The likable Brazilian will push the car to its limits in qualifying for sure so he can try and get good track position.

It is hard to predict how Williams will do in qualifying and the race because of all the rain forecasted this weekend. I think the grid could be a bit of a mishmash come race day so I think Rubens might qualify as high as sixth. I don’t think Hulkenberg will do quite as well but I could see the German sneaking into the top ten if he finds a bit of extra pace with the aerodynamics package.

It’s not beyond the realms of possibility that both Williams finish in the points and with all the rain, Rubens might have an outside chance of finishing on the podium.

Join me and Victoria on Formula1FanCast.com’s Fantasy League Formula 1 2010. Our league is called Formula1Fancast.com and the league pin is 722. Try and beat us if you can, but be warned we’re good!

Related posts: