Williams confirms its ambitions at Silverstone
The two Williams drivers managed to secure a place on the second row of the starting grid. This puts them ahead of their main championship rivals, Ferrari.
On the occasion of Q3, the two Williams drivers fought for the gain of this third place. In the end, it was Felipe Massa who managed to stand out: « It’s a great day for us at home. It’s fantastic to finish 3rd and 4th. I really enjoyed battling with Valtteri and swapping our places. The wind at Copse was really strong, and it impacted the car’s balance. So I was careful not to ruin a lap by going wide. It’s very important for us to show that we have the pace to allow both cars to be ahead of everyone, except the Mercedes. »
For Valtteri Bottas, such a collective success is even a surprise, after lukewarm free practice sessions from the Grove cars: “We knew we could improve today, but we are still a bit surprised to have progressed so much. It’s a good thing because tomorrow could be a very good race for us. Obviously, you always want to be ahead of your teammate, but we had a great battle and Felipe was able to improve a little more at the end.”
For Rob Smedley, the team’s engineering director, the goal can only be the podium: « The main thing now is to convert this qualification into points tomorrow. We will do everything we can to have at least one car on the podium. The car has been good on long runs throughout the weekend. So it should fare well in the race. »
From our special correspondent in Silverstone
