Williams squeezes in between the Force Indias
The Williams cars of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa both made it into the top 10 - in 8th and 9th positions - giving themselves the advantage of starting ahead of one of the two Force Indias in the person of Sergio Perez - 12th - with the aim of retaking 4th place in the Constructors' Championship.
The Grove team performed rather well during the weekend and qualifying, even though Sahara Force India has remained out of reach so far. Both drivers were happy with the balance of their cars, but a lack of overall grip affected their ambitions in qualifying.
Valtteri Bottas will be eager to have a calmer race tomorrow, unlike last week when he ended up at the bottom – 16th at the finish line – of the standings following a collision with Nico Hülkenberg at the first corner.
Today he was satisfied with his qualifying laps and even reached what he thought was their optimum by securing this 8th place: « It was a very good qualifying session and we finished more or less where we should today. »
8th on the grid tomorrow. Feel like got everything from the car. Aiming to move up tomorrow! #F1 #MexicoGP #VB77 photo @glenn_dunbar 🇫🇮 pic.twitter.com/PafGG9bOQv
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) October 29, 2016
Despite everything, a shadow loomed over the Finnish driver’s performance. It was due to the inability to use the soft specifications in the second part of the qualifications: « It was a shame that we couldn’t get through with the soft tires because now we will start on super softs. We just need to try to be smart with our strategy because there is a big difference between super-softs, softs, and mediums on this track in terms of lifespan. We need to make sure everything goes in the right direction tomorrow. »
Of course, the primary mission for the Finn and his teammate is to beat their direct competitor: « We placed ourselves between the Force India cars. The goal is that we must try to be ahead of them and beat them. » It will also be an opportunity for him to overtake Sergio Perez in the driver standings. Currently 8th with 81 points, he is only 3 points behind the Mexican.
On the side of the Brazilian driver, the qualifying session proved difficult, notably once again due to the tire conditioning: « It was a very difficult session. I was in great difficulty trying to get the tires to work. (…) We tried everything, but I couldn’t get them into condition. »
The former Ferrari driver laments that his best time was set in the morning, during the FP3: « My best lap was this morning when I had more fuel. Despite that, we are in the top ten. We know that tomorrow’s race will be difficult, but we need to focus on scoring more points than Force India. »
The objective for tomorrow is clear. They must cross the finish line ahead of the Force India and score as many points as possible to get closer to – or dethrone – the current holder of the fourth place. But the pace, despite Sergio Perez’s setbacks, seems to be on the side of the Force India.
