Friday: Williams still lacking performance
The Williams drivers are stuck at the back of the grid, and things are not improving in Suzuka as Valtteri Bottas encountered some balance issues. However, the Finn remains confident that he can improve his car with the help of his engineers. Pastor Maldonado also had a challenging day, with two shortened practice sessions and a total of only 18 laps today compared to 64 for his teammate.
Valtteri Bottas – 16th and 17th:
« There are still some balance problems with the car, and the strong wind today made it even more unsettled. We’re struggling to get the most out of the mediums when track conditions improve, and compared to other cars, I’d say our pace is similar to that in Korea. Nevertheless, I managed to cover a lot of laps today, more than any other driver, so we have plenty of data at our disposal to try to improve the car’s performance and find a few extra tenths before qualifying. »
Pastor Maldonado – 15th and 18th:
« It was a frustrating day today because I didn’t get the track time I had hoped for. My free practice 1 quickly ended after an issue with my rear-left tire, and at the start of free practice 2, I struggled to find grip and lost the rear of the car, which caused me to go off and ended my session. Tomorrow is another day, and free practice 3 will give us a chance to improve the setup based on what we learned today and to run with low fuel to optimize our car for qualifying, which will be important as overtaking might prove difficult here. »
