Sunday 19 April 2015

Fourth and tenth for the Williams Martini Racing Team

(Williams Martini Racing Team)

The Williams Martini Racing Team had another strong race in Bahrain on Sunday as Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa scored a double points finish. Valtteri Bottas ended the race in fourth place while Felipe Massa ended the race in 10th place.

Bottas did a fantastic job to hold off Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who was on a charge at the end of the race but Valtteri was able to hold and claim a fourth place just missing out on his first podium finish of the season. Prior to the race the Finn said that his back pain which forced him to miss the opening race of the season confirmed that his back is now fine.

Speaking following the race Bottas stated:

I am pleased with the race and happy with fourth position. It was a real shame for the team that Felipe had an issue at the start. It was a lonely race but the final 20 laps were very tough. Sebastian was quicker than me, and closed up behind very fast, but the fight was really good fun. I know a few tricks that can really help to defend and they all worked today, and I am delighted to come out on top today.

Felipe Massa who started the race from sixth place on the grid had a difficult start to the race and ended up finishing the race in 10th place to collect one point. Speaking following the race the Brazilian stated:

It was a frustrating day for me to have to start from the pitlane. The car struggled to fire-up and once under way I had a lot of positions to make up. A few laps in at Turn Four, Maldonado ran into the back of me and damaged something. From then on I really struggled with the rear and the car was very hard to drive. It was a difficult day but one point is better than nothing.’

Williams Martini Racing head to the Spanish Grand Prix at the Barcelona Circuit De Catalunya out on their own in third place in the Constructors championship on 61 points, 46 behind Scuderia Ferrari. Speaking following the race Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley commented on the race by saying:

It was a race of two halves today for us. Felipe had a sensor issue on the grid and we struggled to return from that. In the end Felipe drove a great race to fight back and bring the car home with a point. Valtteri had a great race as we managed to capitalise on Vettel’s mistake and he did a brilliant job to hold off the Ferrari for 17 laps in the closing stages. Overall, our targets are being met in terms of Championship position but we need to develop the package quicker to catch the cars in front.’

© Ben Johnston 2015

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