Williams have expressed their delight of locking out the second row at the Italian Grand Prix with Valtteri Bottas qualifying third and Felipe Massa in fourth.
Once again, Williams were Mercedes’ nearest challengers and the team are bullish about their chances of converting their strong qualifying into a strong points haul.
Valtteri Bottas stated he was pleased with his qualifying lap and is confident he will be able to push the Mercedes come Sunday afternoon:
“To have both cars on the second row is a good starting point for the race. I am really happy with the qualifying lap and the car is set-up for the race so I am confident we can push the Mercedes, it’s just a question of how much can we push them.”
Bottas admitted that the start is crucial to whether he can challenge the Mercedes:
”If we have a great start it could open a lot of opportunities, and the pit-stop lap could be critical depending on our strategy. If anything happens with the cars just in front of us, we will be there to collect those points.”
Team-mate Massa was also pleased with his qualifying but admitted third was out of reach today.
“It was a good qualifying for me and for the team. I was missing just that little bit extra to get third. We aren’t too far off the Mercedes and I think everyone should be happy with the result. It’s a long race and we have good long run pace so who knows what will happen.”
Massa is yet to finish on the podium and is hopeful he can break his duct this weekend
”Hopefully this is just the beginning of a good weekend. I am really going to give everything I can to get on that podium, especially as it’s such a great podium.”
Head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley admitted that there is one aim this weekend, to out-score rivals Ferrari, McLaren and Force India.
”The advantage the power unit gives is phenomenal around here and we are confident with our race pace as well. Our objective is to outscore those around us in the championship and we have set ourselves a good basis for that.’
