Robert Kubica was caught out changing settings at the request of Williams when George Russell passed him during the Spanish GP.
The Pole had got ahead of his teammate on the opening lap, having been comprehensively beaten in qualifying, but would be unable to sustain it as the Briton moved back past into Turn 1.
“I started quite well, but I was squeezed between the two Racing Point’s, so I had to lift off in the straight and I lost quite a lot of ground,” he commented post-race.
“I lost a position to George which I regained in Turn 4.
“The first stint wasn’t looking too bad, but when he [Russell] overtook me, I got the call to change a few things on the steering wheel when I wasn’t expecting him to be so close, so I wasn’t ready to defend.
“By the time I saw in the mirrors that he was catching up it was too late.”
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As with most, Williams took advantage of the incident with Lance Stroll and Lando Norris to switch to a two-stop strategy, something that brought more enjoyment to Kubica’s race.
“I think it was good that the Safety Car came out because it split our second stint, otherwise it would have been very difficult for us to manage our tyres until the end.”
“Robert got the better of me at the start,” he accepted.
“I made a nice little overtake on him, which I later found out was not shown at all on TV, but that’s how it is at the moment, hopefully, there will be a replay later.
“It’s been an intriguing weekend for us, we brought some test items and got some decent information from it, so another learning weekend.”
Williams remained glued to the back of the field and would be the only team lapped in the final sprint to the finish line.