Saturday: Williams F1 drivers could have done better but remain confident
During Q3, the two drivers from the Grove team were hindered by the rain and traffic. Bottas and Massa finished sixth and ninth, respectively. They will count on a fast F1 in dry conditions to gain positions in the race.
Valtteri Bottas (No. 77) – 1st and 6th
After setting the fastest time in FP3, the Finn believes that his car is very strong in dry conditions, even though a rainy qualifying session prevented him from securing as good a position as he would have liked.
He explains why: « Because of the traffic, I lost tire temperature during my warm-up lap, which is crucial for us, and it made my last lap more difficult than the previous ones, and throughout the qualifying we were losing time in the second sector. Our pace in the rain has improved since the start of the season, and sixth place on the grid is quite good. There will be plenty to do tomorrow, and if it’s a dry race, we will have a good chance to compete with Ferrari and Red Bull. »
Felipe Massa (No. 19) – 9th and 9th
Bothered by the rain, the Brazilian faced the same difficulties as his teammate, unable to sufficiently warm up his tires before his fast lap.
He specifies: « Even if the track dried out and got faster in Q3, I was slower than my Q2 lap which shows that I could have gone faster if I had been able to do a normal lap. Tomorrow is another day and I hope we can show our pace and gain some positions. »
