The Williams team were licking their wounds on Saturday evening, after the team's worst ever Formula One qualifying performance, though the team still pledged to "attack" from the back row of the grid at the Yas Marina track tomorrow.
Both Williams cars will line up on the back row of the grid for tomorrow's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a disastrous qualifying session for the team.Rubens Barrichello failed to set a time in Q1 after suffering an engine failure on his car.
Then in Q2, Pastor Maldonado could only manage 17th, which will translate to a back row start for the race tomorrow after the Venezuelan picked up a ten-place grid penalty for taking his ninth engine of the season.
The result is the worst qualifying performance for Williams in their history, and comes as a new low in their dismal 2011 campaign.
But despite their poor results, the team have insisted that they will still fight hard in the race on Sunday.
"That was obviously a very disappointing day for Rubens having had an engine issue disrupt his P3 running and then stop him setting a lap in qualifying," the team's chief operations engineer Mark Gillan said after the session.
"[Meanwhile] Pastor made his way into Q2 but will take a grid penalty due to having a ninth engine fitted at the start of the weekend."
But he added: "Both drivers therefore start from the back but we look forward to seeing them attack in the race."
Maldonado himself suggested that a "strong strategy" could still help him turn his race around, despite his back row starting position.
"It's a long race here and we need to come up with a strong strategy to get a positive result from 23rd," he mused, "We've obviously been thinking about our strategy all weekend because we've known about the grid penalty for a while now.
"We haven't decided 100% and we'll keep working on it tonight to make sure we give ourselves the best possible chance. I will do my best and I know the team will too. We must be confident."
Barrichello added: "The team tried everything to fix the problem that we had this morning. Unfortunately, they weren't able to and I couldn't go out in qualifying.
"I fully support the team and know we will come through this smiling."
Williams have scored just five championship points so far in 2011, with just two races of the season left, and look certain to finish a lowly ninth in the final standings.
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