(Williams Martini Racing)
The Williams Martini Racing Team had another great race on Sunday at the Bahrain Grand Prix today, both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas brought their cars home in the point's for the second race in a row. This race was different however, as there was no repeat of the angry team radio messages that we heard last weekend in Malaysia.
Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finished today's race in 7th and 8th place respectively which ironically is exactly the same positions as they finished the Malaysian Grand Prix in. Despite the double point's finish the team will feel somewhat disappointed after Bottas started the race from third on the grid.
The Grove based team had great battle with the Force India duo of Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg. Despite both Massa and Bottas running in third at various stages during the race the Force India duo managed to get past them but the team have continued their great start to the season.
It was also a good result for the squad as Sir Frank Williams was in the garage watching his first race of the new season and it was great to see that the team who had a torrid time last season were so competitive today.
Speaking after the race, Massa said: 'The start was fantastic, I did everything right and I had good grip and it all went well. We were in a good position and fighting but sadly the tyre degradation was worse than we expected. The safety car didn't help the strategy as I think we should have been up with the Force Indias rather than behind the Red Bulls so that is a shame. Other than that it was a good race, with some good battles and to finish with both cars in the points is really positive'.
Meanwhile his team mate Valtteri Bottas had this to say about the race: 'After a poor start our race strategy was compromised. I had too much wheelspin and that lost me a few positions which is frustrating. We had issues with the tyres that were worse than expected but on a positive note we got some good points from both cars. We always want more though, so we will continue to work hard and look forward to the next race'.
For the team to finish in 7th and 8th place in the race when just over a month ago Massa ended the Bahrain test as the fastest car of all will be disappointing however the Williams has fantastic straight line speed thanks to their Mercedes power train and this will be crucial next time out in China due to the layout of the Shanghai International circuit which features a number of long straights with a mixture of tight corners which should suit the characteristics of the FW36.
©Ben Johnston 2014
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