Williams on the verge of the Top 10 on Saturday, wronged by Pérez
The Grove team didn't expect much from Qualifying. That said, it didn't take them long to get at least one car into Q3, with Valtteri Bottas in 11th place. He finished just ahead of team-mate Felipe Massa, in 12th place. Both were overtaken by the impetuous Sergio Pérez, who was subsequently penalized.
Bottas: Eliminated in Q2 due to a yellow flag… and 3 thousandths!
Q2: 11th -> 1:44.740 (11 Laps)
On a circuit that scarcely suits the FW38, Valtteri Bottas was still very close to making it to Q3. After only placing 15th in Q2, the Finn was about to raise his game slightly in the last flying lap of the second part… before Romain Grosjean’s crash ruined his improvement. Worse, the number 77 was overtaken by Sergio Pérez, who hadn’t really slowed down under the yellow flag!
A few minutes after the elimination, the frustration was evident in the words of the Finnish driver:
« I heard that other drivers didn’t actually slow down under the yellow flag conditions… Let’s see now what the starting order will be tomorrow… »
Calmer later, Bottas reflected more lucidly on his performance:
« We managed to make some adjustments to our setup between the free practice sessions and qualifying. But this weekend remains tricky for us. The standings were very tight, especially with Force India. I feel I had another great lap in me during Q2, but the yellow flags forced me to slow down. »
As in Monaco, Bottas qualifies in 11th position, to start 10th following the demotion of a driver ahead of him. His mission will be not to finish in the same place as in the Principality, a modest 12th position at the time. There are reasons for hope here:
The race pace seems better to me than that of the Qualifications. We will fight with Force India on Sunday and we will also try to get ahead of the Toro Rosso. It’s a good target for us!
In the Pérez case, Bottas is therefore the first beneficiary by moving up to 10th place on the grid after the eight-place penalty given to his direct rival.
Same problems, same causes, same effects for Felipe Massa
Q2: 12th -> 1:44.991 (11 Laps)
After taking part in the last European start of his career two weeks ago in Monza, the Brazilian is now embarking on his farewell tour. Even though we are not there yet, his Saturday performances are on a downward slope, defeated for the seventh consecutive time by his teammate. In his defense, the former Ferrari driver was also one of the collateral victims of Grosjean’s accident at the end of FP2.
« It wasn’t a good qualifying session for me. I was improving my lap, but I had to slow down due to the yellow flags. A few other cars didn’t do it. We now have to look ahead, the race is tomorrow and we need to be ready for any situation in Singapore. »
