Friday at Interlagos: Williams advantage over Force India

Two weeks ago in Mexico, the four protagonists in question were on Sergio Pérez’s home turf, who finished 10th in his local race, stuck for a good part of the race… behind Felipe Massa who finally finished 9th. Nico Hülkenberg secured the points for 7th place ahead of Valtteri Bottas in 8th, thus allowing the Indian team to take back a point in the championship from Sir Frank’s cars.

The Williams team, led by Felipe Massa on his home turf and Valtteri Bottas, showed good pace on both long and short stints. They seemed to have found the right settings, even finishing right behind the two Mercedes drivers during the second practice session.

Felipe Massa – 8th and 4th fastest – was more than enthusiastic at the end of the day, especially knowing that these would be the Brazilian’s last laps at home behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car. He describes his Friday: « It was really a good day. It’s always nice to see your name near the top of the standings. I’m really looking forward to this competitiveness tomorrow and especially on Sunday. »

The Paulist can count on the support and enthusiasm of the spectators: « This is a track that I like and the people here really support me, which gives me a lot more confidence. I hope we can remain just as competitive this weekend. It won’t be easy, but I’ll do everything I can. »

Valtteri Bottas – 5th and 3rd fastest – also shared his teammate’s positive attitude towards the good pace of their cars. He recounted his day: « For a Friday, it was a good day. The balance was quite good during the first runs, so it was just a matter of finding the right settings. The long runs were consistent. The car seems to respond well and the pace is promising.

Nevertheless, the Finn remained cautious: « But it’s only Friday, so like every weekend we will have to find a lot more for tomorrow because everyone will be finding improvements. I’m happy with the day, but it’s Saturday and Sunday that count. I think we can be more competitive than in the last race, but it’s hard to predict in detail what it will be like since everyone will be trying different things. »

On the side of their rivals, the Force India drivers had a fairly good day, with their focus already turning to Saturday’s hostilities.

Nico Hülkenberg – 7th and 9th fastest – was satisfied with the behavior of his car after spending a studious Friday collecting information on tire behavior. He described his day: « It was a good Friday, just what you expect from such a day. We had two dry sessions and collected very useful tire data with two long stints. The car behaves well but there are still many things that can be done to improve its balance. (…) It is still too early to know how competitive we are, but it seems that we have the potential to have a good weekend. »

For his teammate, Sergio Pérez – 6th and 14th fastest – the Mexican also seemed relatively satisfied with his testing day, despite dropping beyond the tenth position during the afternoon session.

« It was a very hot day, but things went as planned. This afternoon, I didn’t manage to have a clear lap during my first stint with the soft tires. So I think there’s more potential to be tapped into. We tried a few adjustments that didn’t really work, but we learned some things that will allow us to go in the right direction for tomorrow. »

We expected the weather to be slightly cooler over the weekend, but I think the work we did today is representative. We will have to make adjustments if the track temperatures drop. Overall, I am satisfied with what we have done; we have a good idea of what we need to improve.

The objective will be the same for both teams: to finish ahead of the other to secure or reclaim fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship. Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas—tied on points—will also be competing against each other for the drivers’ standings and 7th place.