Both Williams finally in the points at Montmelo
Far from the hustle and bustle of the front-runners, Williams finished the Spanish Grand Prix in fifth place with Valtteri Bottas. Felipe Massa also made a fine comeback, finishing eighth under the chequered flag despite the mishap in qualifying.
Overall, quite a calm race for Valtteri Bottas in the shadow of the best. Finishing fifth, the driver with number 77 apparently had few regrets:
« I think we got the most out of our car today: I am happy with these few points scored. We knew our car was relatively competitive this weekend, so there’s something positive to take from it. »
The main highlight of his race was actually his battle with the fearless Carlos Sainz during the first stint. But Bottas was far behind the Red Bulls or Ferraris, finishing forty-five seconds behind the winner, Max Verstappen.
« Of course, we want to fight for podiums or victories, but it wasn’t possible here. We must continue our efforts, especially on the development of our car. We still need a better pace: we couldn’t take full advantage of what happened in front of us. »
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For once, an unusual strategy worked in favor of Felipe Massa, who was 19th at the end of the first lap. But a good pace on track and solid pit stops allowed the Brazilian to climb back into the Top 10, ultimately finishing in the slipstream of Sergio Pérez in eighth place.
« It was really a great race for us with those good points scored, from my eighteenth place on the grid to eighth at the finish. It was a tough race, this is clearly not the best track for us, so I’m content with my result. I know that we still lost some points compared to Red Bull, but it is what it is. I’m really happy for Max as well. I know what it means to win for the first time in a Grand Prix. »
But the immediate aftermath of this season looks difficult: the Williams-Mercedes doesn’t much like the winding streets of the Principality.
I now eagerly await the Monaco Grand Prix, hoping that we will have a better pace on this type of track, which has not been favorable to us since 2014. But in Monaco, anything can happen.
To complete the analysis of the Grove team’s weekend, Rob Smedley, the head of performance in the engine department, also spoke in front of the microphones. He primarily highlights the positive points:
I believe that Valtteri did a very good job. We asked him to push at the end of the first stint to overtake Sainz and Pérez. We extended his stint and it worked: after that, his race was smooth. Felipe Massa’s race, on the other hand, was more complicated.
« We did a good job in terms of strategy. We had planned a three-stop strategy, but we changed our plans mid-race to ensure good progression for Felipe. We managed to get him past the McLarens through pit stops, even though we weren’t able to get past Perez.
Fortunately, the mechanics worked well today and the pit stops were fantastic: the team is making progress in this area.
Despite this performance, the Williams team remained surprisingly far from the front, even though the double retirement of the Mercedes had opened the way to the podium. So, has the Williams team fallen back in line? Not at all, thinks Felipe Massa’s former race engineer!
« Even if Red Bull won today, we will continue to challenge them. »
