Williams had neither the pace nor the right strategy in Bahrain

Is there a strategist in the garage? Once again, the Williams engineers got lost in their calculations during the race. Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas completed too many laps on medium tires that were neither fast nor durable, quite the feat! The white cars had taken a dream start, occupying the second and third positions by the end of the first lap. Even more concerning, the Williams chassis is not on the level of Red Bull, Williams, or even Haas.

“I had such a good start,” regretted Felipe Massa, “moving from seventh to second position, but unfortunately the two-stop strategy did not work as well as hoped, and our pace on medium tires was not very good. This allowed other drivers on softer tires to overtake us and maintain their position. We had started the weekend hoping for more, so it’s a disappointing result.”

Valtteri Bottas’s race was complicated, not only by his team’s strategists, but also by a drive-through penalty received for damaging Lewis Hamilton’s front wing at the first corner. The Finn attempted a daring move, but it was ultimately counterproductive. « I expected more from this weekend, and finishing ninth is therefore a bit disappointing. I got a fantastic start, but unfortunately had contact with Lewis at the first corner, which was a real shame and cost us two places. The penalty then somewhat compromised our strategy. (…) The first two races of the season haven’t been ideal for us. »

Director of Performance at Williams, Rob Smedley was in charge of the strategy for his two protégés and thus finds himself at the forefront of those accused: « It was a very difficult day. (…) Compared to our pace in qualifying, our race pace was simply absent. (…) Felipe’s pace on medium tires during the second stint wasn’t great, so we need to understand what happened to him.»