Two thousandths of a second difference between the two Williams

Behind Ferrari and Mercedes, the fight is tight between Red Bull, Toro Rosso, and Williams. In the qualifying exercise, Williams achieved a nice grouping, being the only one of these three teams to place both of its drivers. Williams even pushed both drivers to go out again in Q2 even though they were not threatened.

It is Rob Smedley, the team’s engineering director, who provided us with an explanation for such caution: « We went out again in Q2 because we wanted the drivers to be ready for Q3 and we wanted to make use of the available time. We knew the Ferraris and Mercedes would be a bit too far ahead of us and that we wouldn’t be able to make a second stint in Q3. The drivers improved as we went along and I think we are in a reasonable position. »

After this successful qualification, Valtteri Bottas’s main goal is to pass Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull, in order to establish Williams as the third strongest team on the grid: « We are starting the race in a good position and the goal is to finish in the top 5, which is clearly possible. We just need to find a way to get past the Red Bull. I think our better top speed should help us. »

Felipe Massa’s day was quite busy as he spent his free practice session 3 evaluating the new front wing that Williams brought specifically for this weekend. After much deliberation, it was decided to use it in qualifying: « It was a difficult day trying the new front wing in practice and not having too much balance. So we took our time to decide whether we would use it in qualifying or not. We finally decided to use it, and we managed to improve our times, which is important. We need more time to better understand this front wing and make the most of it. »

With the participation of www.racingbusiness.fr