Sunday: Massa secures an unexpected top 5 for Williams F1 in Singapore
The Singapore Grand Prix of Formula 1 was supposed to be about damage limitation for Williams, but within a lap, the British team almost achieved an almost perfect result. While Felipe Massa finished 5th, Valtteri Bottas couldn't fight off his opponents in the final lap.
Felipe Massa (no.19) – 5th
For the Brazilian, a top 5 finish seems to be an excellent result given the qualities of the FW36. The key was the strategic change and the good performance of the tires: « We switched from a three-stop strategy to two stops after the long safety car period, and the last stint pushed the tire to its absolute limit, but I managed to make it work. The grip levels were very low in the final laps, but I built up enough of a gap to the 6th place to finish comfortably. Given the nature of the track, 5th position was probably the best possible position, but I’m obviously disappointed for the team that Valtteri’s tires couldn’t last until the end. »
Valtteri Bottas (No. 77) – 11th
Sixth at the start of the final loop, the Finn ultimately finished out of the points. Struggling with his tires, he couldn’t stop the bleeding: « After the safety car, we switched to a two-stop strategy, and in the end, the tires just weren’t able to hold on. On the last lap, I had a big lock-up at the rear when I defended, and then I had no grip and cars could easily pass me. »
He believes that the failure of his power steering played a role in this catastrophic end of the race: « I also had a problem with the power steering in the last stint and it made tire conservation difficult because I lost a lot of feel with the car. If I hadn’t had this issue, maybe I could have made it to the end. »
