Williams: Bottas will have to fight to secure a podium finish in Austin
Once again the "best of the rest" behind the untouchable Mercedes, Valtteri Bottas is happy to have navigated through a challenging weekend so far and hopes to score big points for Williams.
Qualified in third position on the grid, Valtteri Bottas once again gained the advantage over his teammate in the timed exercise. The Finn has outqualified Felipe Massa 12 times in 17 races since the start of the season.
« I managed to make a lot of progress compared to the practice sessions, and I really found good settings on the car before qualifying. I could really trust the car and have the right lines, taking each corner correctly. I knew that Q3 would be the moment that counts and I had to do everything right and still be at the limit. I tried to get the most out of it, » he explained.
Starting on the clean side of the track, the driver who has achieved his first five career podiums this season believes he will have difficulties adding another to his collection but doesn’t consider himself defeated. « It was a very good qualifying session, once again, and I am really happy with the good laps I produced in Q3, but it has been a difficult weekend on my side for several reasons. [I struggled] to find the right rhythm and then I finally had enough confidence in the car, so I am really happy for the team. »
We locked in the second row and it’s a good starting position for the race because we still have three important races to try to maintain a strong position in the constructors’ standings. But it should be an interesting race, especially since the guys behind us will be really fast. This will be an important race for us to secure good points, but it won’t be easy.
