Williams prepares for battle with Force India
After testing on a fresh track on Friday morning, Williams finished 6th with Valtteri Bottas and 11th for Felipe Massa. Back on a sunnier track, they finished the day in 14th and 16th places.
Williams’ Performance Chief, Rob Smedley, was pleased with this first day of the weekend on Texan soil. The morning’s objectives were aimed at testing a new front wing and new brake ducts, as well as trying out the safety halo on Valtteri Bottas’s car.
« Today was a very typical Friday for us, focused on our work plan to obtain the data we need. We tested new aerodynamic parts on the car this morning (…) with good feedback from the drivers. Valtteri Bottas tested the halo this morning for aesthetic, reaction, and visibility testing purposes. » Smedley specifies.
In the afternoon, the drivers focused on tire testing and car adjustments.
The lead engineer seems relatively optimistic for the rest of the weekend. « On both long and short stints, we are where we hoped to be in order to fight with the other teams. »
He adds that the midfield cars are very close in terms of performance: « With the midfield cars being very close in terms of performance, qualifying will be crucial, so we need to make no mistakes. »
Valtteri Bottas shares Smedley’s opinion that the tests went smoothly by testing the three tire specifications brought for this Grand Prix: « Today the tests went smoothly for me. We used the three types of tires available here for this weekend. »
The Finn is satisfied with the balance of his car and its handling, especially during the morning tests. However, he acknowledges that there is still a lot of work to be done to bring improvements to both long and short stints.
For his part, Felipe Massa is less enthusiastic. He laments a lack of performance during the afternoon tests, particularly on stints with low fuel. He agrees with his teammate on the workload needed to improve the car in preparation for the battle for the fourth place in the constructors’ championship against Force India: “We were not as competitive as we would have liked in free practice 2 on the low fuel stints. It will be a great fight with Force India tomorrow, and we need to make improvements overnight,” the Brazilian concludes.
