(© Ben Johnston 2015)
The Williams Martini Racing Team head into this weekend’s
opening European race of the season at the Barcelona Circuit De Catalunya
hoping that they can close the gap to Scuderia Ferrari. The Grove based outfit
are currently in third place in the championship on 61 points.
Valtteri Bottas will be hoping to challenge at the front
this weekend after missing the opening race of the season, the Australian Grand
Prix in March as a result of a back injury.
Despite missing the Grand Prix the
Finn is just one point behind team mate Felipe Massa in 6th place in
the championship.
Last time out in Bahrain three weeks ago, Bottas finished
the race in fourth place just behind Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s Nico
Rosberg. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix Bottas stated:
‘Barcelona is a track everyone knows really well as we’ve done
plenty of laps there this season in testing. It's one of those tracks where if
you are good in qualifying you can have a good race as overtaking isn’t that
easy. I'm confident that we will have a good chance to fight for a strong
position. We will be bringing some upgrades for the car as well, so it will be
interesting to see if they work as expected. I imagine most teams will be
bringing something new to the race and would have made good use of the three
week gap and the circuits’ relative closeness to each teams factory. Being in
Europe also eliminates the jet lag we experience so we can get a bit more
training in before the race. I’m really looking forward to starting the
European season.’
Felipe Massa heads into Sunday’s Grand Prix having finished
the Bahrain Grand Prix in 10th place. The Brazilian is currently in
fifth place in the championship, eleven points behind his former Ferrari team
mate Kimi Raikkonen. Speaking ahead of the opening European race of the season
Massa stated:
‘We've completed two weeks of testing in Barcelona over the
winter so we know how our car can perform around the circuit and are probably
more prepared for this race than any other race on the calendar. It's a nice
track with a lot of fans in the grandstands and a great city on the doorstep.
We have shown in the first few races that we have a good car and a few upgrades
will be appearing in Spain that we need to make the most of if we are going to
close the gap to the cars in front. It's good to be back in Europe and I hope
we can start this part of the season with a strong result.’
The Spanish Grand Prix this weekend will see a return to the
cockpit of the FW37 for Williams Martini Racing Team’s test driver Susie Wolff
who take part in Free Practice One on Friday morning at the Barcelona Circuit
De Catalunya. The Scottish driver last drove for the team during winter testing
at the Montmelo circuit in February.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix,
Williams Martini Racing Team’s Head of Performance Engineering Rob Smedley
stated:
‘We’re heading into the European season after a reasonably
successful campaign that has put us a solid third position in the championship.
Our aim now is to keep moving forward and close the gap to the teams in front.
Barcelona is a good measure of everyone's upgrade packages and shows how well
teams have developed their cars. The circuit is an excellent test of a Formula
One car with Turn Three offering a long, high speed test and sector three
always being demanding on the car as it exposes its performance levels. We are
heading into the weekend with a lot of confidence but there will be a lot of
work to do leading up to qualifying as we learn about the new updated package.’
© Ben Johnston 2015
No comments:
Post a Comment