The Tail End
Williams had another disappointing weekend for their collection, with Bottas struggling for pace from the start. Unable to make any impression on the cars in front, he just worked his way to 15th in a fairly uneventful outing. Maldonado had a good first stint but then struggled for pace in the second, before coming together with both Force India's. After being hit by Sutil, he tried to dive for the pits, completely forgetting about Di Resta, who promptly wrote off his car on the front of Maldonado's. The Williams recovered to the pits for repairs, but was later given a ten second stop-go for causing the accident, leaving him in 17th by the end behind a Caterham. Following a belting qualifying, Van der Garde set off to maximise the result. They couldn't hold onto the early 14th place as faster cars came through from behind, as they'd expected, but they did find the pace to stretch a lead over the two Marussia cars. Whilst they might have hoped for rain, it was a great weekend for Van der Garde, holding off Maldonado all the way to the flag. Pic had little luck in the sister car however, as after a good start where he overtook both the rival Marussia cars, the engine developed an oil leak and the team chose to retire the car to protect the new engine. It was disappointing for them when they clearly had the measure of their main rival. Marussia had a tough afternoon, and with no rain they were unable to seize the race as they had qualifying. Bianchi had radio problems and lacked the pace to chase after the Caterham's. Chilton was unable to hold onto his excellent grid slot, dropping to last and then being left to tour to the flag with a lack of pace, picking up a drive through penalty on lap 33 for ignoring blue flags. Marussia however held their position ahead of Caterham in the championship, vital for the 2014 season.