(Williams Martini Racing Team)
The Williams Martini Racig Team head to the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo lookin to secure their first victory of the season and following another big haul of points last time out in the United States at the Circuit of the Americas which saw Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas finish the race best of the rest behind the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in fourth and fifth place respectively.
The Grove based outfit are now 42 points clear of Ferrari in the race for third place in the Constructors championship. It also marks a home race for both Felipe Massa and fuel and lubricant supplier Petrobas who also happen to be the title sponsor of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
Williams Martini Racing will also be hoping to continue their points scoring run as they have secured points in every race so far this season and with the circuit in Brazil being the shortest on the Formula One calendar and with the FW36 having proven to be an all round strong package the team should be in a position to challenge the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the race win.
The Brazilian fans are some of the most passionate Formula One fans in the world and it will be an extra special event for Felipe Massa as he is driving in Brazil in a Williams and becomes the third Brazilian driver to do so since Ayrton Senna did in 1994 so he will be hoping to give the crowd something to shout about on Sunday afternoon.
Speaking about this weekend's race Massa stated:
'The track is great, although it’s very small it’s also very technical. Corner one and two are very difficult especially as the gradient changes so there is a specific way to drive this sector. With two straights and a very slow section from corner seven to 11 it is important to have a well-balanced car and not focus on just one of those elements. To drive at my home Grand Prix is always special and to see the fans supporting me is a great motivation.'
Valtteri Bottas heads to the Brazilian Grand Prix in fourth place in the championship, six points ahead of both Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and Infiniti Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel. Speaking ahead of this weekend's race Bottas who is aiming to secure his sixth podium finish of the season for the Williams Martini Racing team stated:
'There are some changes to the track for this year, they have resurfaced it and also the pit entry and exit are going to be a bit different than before. It’s a great track with a big change in elevation.
From the main straight to the second sector the track drops a lot, and then you have a big climb up hill in the last sector. Setting up the car is not easy because of the long corners.
Good balance is important but also a good straight line speed, so I think we can be competitive here. The fans are really passionate here and the atmosphere is great, so with it being Felipe’s home Grand Prix I’m sure there will be a lot of Williams supporters around.'
Speaking ahead of this weekend's race Williams Martini Racing team's head of performance engineering Rob Smedley stated:
'The Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace is a slightly lower speed circuit than the previous two Grands Prix, and it is a slightly shorter circuit. You need a really good front end in the middle sector, but good traction from the corners.
Getting the most out of the tyres is important in Brazil and the new asphalt will play a part in this. This may have changed the dynamics of the track, but we hope to have both cars in the points again at the end of the race.'
© Ben Johnston 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment