Despite not collecting a single point in Melbourne, the Williams team will travel from Australia to Malaysia in upbeat mood.
The famous British outfit’s slide from its race and title-winning days hit rock bottom in 2011, scoring just five points all season and only finishing ahead of the three struggling new teams in the constructors’ championship.

But Oxfordshire based Williams has restructured for the 2012 season and is now led technically by former McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, and in Australia the newly Renault-powered FW34 qualified comfortably in Q3.

In the race, Pastor Maldonado was pushing Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso for fifth place when he crashed heavily on the very last lap.

If he had made it round to the chequered flag, Williams would have scored more points in one hit than it managed all last season.

“The car was considerably better than anything I have seen in recent years,” said team chairman Adam Parr.

Referring to Maldonado’s crash, the team’s new driver mentor Alex Wurz told Austrian ORF television: “Of course nobody is happy.

“The bad news is that we have to leave with no points, but the team has made a huge leap forwards.”

Jaime Alguersuari, the former Toro Rosso driver turned radio co-commentator, called Williams’ step compared to 2011 “giant”.

“No doubt about it, Williams are the big surprise,” the Spaniard told Mundo Deportivo when asked about the new field of 2012.

“Last year their car was really, really, really bad, and so they have taken an exceptional leap.”

McLaren’s racing duo have disagreed about how the early development of the 2010 car impacted the pecking order at the British team this season.

Jenson Button, whose decision to switch to the Woking based team this year was made late, explained at Suzuka that he is expecting a better 2011 season.

“The fact is when I arrived in January the car was already built,” said the reigning world champion, who qualified two tenths behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton on Sunday morning.

Button, 30, is also five points behind Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, despite two consecutive race-ending crashes for the latter Briton.

He continued: “Next year I’ll definitely be a stronger driver just through experience and having a bit more direction when it comes to development of the car.”

But Hamilton denies that the gap between the pair is easily explained by his greater involvement in the development of the MP4-25.

He argues that Button had “just as much input as me” into the car, with the exception of early seat fittings and other minor influences.

“But he was as much a part of it from when he joined the team as I was,” said Hamilton, 25.

“So he has only missed out on a couple of months really.  And he wouldn’t have wanted to drive last year’s car.

“This is a completely new one.  It is not like this year’s is an evolution of last year’s,” he insisted.

Mark Webber extended his championship lead to 11 points on Sunday night, despite finishing on the lowest step of the podium and colliding with Lewis Hamilton during a long and hot Singapore grand prix.

The Australian finished behind pole sitter and winner Fernando Alonso, as well as his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel.

At the chequered flag just before the 2 hour time limit was up, Ferrari’s Spaniard and German Vettel were separated by just 3 tenths of a second.

But Vettel’s points gap to Webber, who was a further half minute behind the leading battle at the finish, is still more than 20 points.

Webber’s closest challenger is now Alonso, who has won the last two races from pole position in the resurgent Ferrari.

He leapfrogs Hamilton in the drivers’ standings, after the Briton retired for the second race in a row due to a collision.

This time his clash was with Webber, whose RB6 was sporting significant damage to its wheel and tyre in parc ferme after the race.

Hamilton’s MP4-25 came off worse, and he came close to writing off his title chances after retiring at mid-distance.

“Let’s just hope myself or Jenson can do it,” said the 2008 world champion, who remains five points ahead of teammate Jenson Button’s sister car.

“20 points is massive and with four races to go that is a big gap,” Hamilton told reporters.

Button confirmed: “There is everything to play for.”

From Periphery to 1:20 1:1,75-top favorites: Mark Webber is surprised to lead to Monza still the drivers’ championship
Five races before the end leads to Mark Webber still the drivers’ championship – five points ahead of Lewis Hamilton, 21 ahead of Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button 22 states and 24 ahead of Sebastian Vettel. This was before the season is not necessarily to be expected, so the Red Bull driver was traded by the bookmakers in March than 1:20 outsider to the world title.

He is now with a ratio of 1:1,75 hottie – and that it would lead to Monza the points classification, would have thought possible a few months ago, hardly anyone: “If someone had offered me to be after this race in the lead, I would have bitten off the arm for it, “laughs Webber. For with Spa-Francorchamps and Monza, perhaps the most difficult race for Red Bull are already behind him.
From now on, it should be rather better: “In Singapore,” he looks at the upcoming race, “we expect a good result. I can not wait. It is a unique race under floodlights, and the track should suit us if something is worth Monaco. The performance has shifted a bit, but not much, and the next race talk should be good for us. But does not help us, but we have to get performance. ”

That it is in world title fight as the leader in a good position is located, is aware Webber: “It’s always nice to have the points on board,” he says. “The other guys have to catch them first. This is not a bad condition for the last five races.” However, one should not overstate the intermediate results, because this season are still to be awarded 125 points.

With the FIA going easy on Ferrari’s use of team orders at Hockenheim, Christian Horner is not ruling out employing similar tactics at Red Bull.

The Italian team was fined $100,000 and ordered to pay the FIA’s court costs for the disciplinary hearing last Wednesday, but otherwise escaped penalty for illegally moving Fernando Alonso ahead of Felipe Massa in the German race.

Given the ultra-competitiveness of F1 at present, rival teams might now need to exploit the same loophole, Horner suggested at Monza.

“I think everyone in formula one, certainly the top three teams, will have to consider it.

“I wish we had known before Istanbul!” he remarked, referring to the race in which Sebastian Vettel collided with his teammate Mark Webber whilst they jousted for the lead.

The FIA aside, Ferrari has been heavily criticised for its Hockenheim actions, but Horner said the world championship is paramount.

“Ferrari said they would look idiots if they lost the title by five points,” he said.

“But if we end up losing the title by five points, after allowing Mark and Sebastian to race, then we are going to look like idiots,” added the Briton.

Rival McLaren, however, is not intending a change of strategy as a result of the Ferrari ruling.

“It has no impact on anything I’m going to do this weekend,” said team boss Martin Whitmarsh.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone is desperate to formally rid his sport of the ban.

“It’s totally crazy,” he told the German newsmagazine Focus.

“What’s a team order? Something that took place half an hour before the race? What about a month before? It’s completely nonsense.

“In my eyes it’s team strategy, which should be allowed. I will recommend to the FIA to withdraw this rule,” added the 79-year-old.

In a similar way, Ecclestone said the FIA should also not be interfering in how F1 teams run their companies in other areas — such as the number of staff.

“It’s up to them to run their teams. And believe me, if they want to employ more people, they’ll find a way,” he said.

Sunday afternoon in Turkey hosted a dramatic seventh round of the 2010 world championship.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, challenged hard by the McLarens, collided whilst running first and second at Istanbul Park, triggering dramatic scenes both trackside and back in the paddock.

After emerging from his stricken RB6, German Vettel twiddled his finger around his ears in disgust, but whilst enraged initially refused to speak to reporters.

“Don’t you throw me around!” a journalist barked at a Red Bull minder as Vettel pushed his way into the Red Bull transporter.

Eventual winner Lewis Hamilton quietly asked Webber about the incident after the race, and the Australian gestured that Vettel had turned sharply to the right whilst alongside him.

Webber, 33, was then fiercely reserved whilst addressing reporters in the FIA press conference, but admitted that he thought Vettel had “turned pretty quickly to the right” before the crash.

In a frantic paddock press scrum, an angry-looking Vettel explained: “It was clear I had the inside and was ahead.  I dived down the left, I had the corner so I was trying to focus on the braking and I lost the car.”

Team boss Christian Horner said he was angry at both drivers.

“What we always ask is that the drivers give each other room,” he said.  “Today, neither yielded.”

BBC commentator Martin Brundle concluded that the young German was “unquestionably” at fault, and McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh admitted he is not sure he would have “cuddled” Vettel when the 22-year-old eventually walked to the pitwall.

But although celebrating a one-two at Red Bull’s expense, there was also controversy on the McLaren pitwall, after Jenson Button and Hamilton tussled for the lead after being told to save fuel and tyres.

Having been captured by live TV images in anxious response to their wheel-to-wheel battle, Whitmarsh admitted the moments had made him “uncomfortable”.

But the outcome of the race, while leaving championship leader Webber five points clear, sees both McLarens close behind, with Vettel dropping 15 points behind.

(GMM)