Williams Martini F1 Team/Glenn Dunbar ©
Yesterday in an interview with ESPN F1, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas has stated that he does not think it will be easy for Williams to convert its second-row lockout into a podium at the United States Grand Prix.
Bottas led the charge behind Mercedes in qualifying, finishing three tenths up on team-mate Felipe Massa. But Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso line up on the third row, with the McLarens locking out the row behind that, something Bottas thinks Williams will need to be wary of on Sunday.
In his interview with ESPN F1 yesterday, Bottas believes it should be an interesting race and believes it is important that they score points. Bottas stated the following:-
As Bottas says, it should be an interesting race this weekend for Williams as they will want to score some points to stay ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors Championship, but they also know that everyone behind them is also quick too. But Bottas once again had a great qualifying and it is has been a difficult weekend for him so far.
But achieving another third place in qualifying will only be welcomed by Bottas and will provide him with confidence and motivation for the race and to achieve the best possible result that he can on the track in the race on Sunday.
Bottas missed FP1 on Friday, with reserve driver Felipe Nasr stepping in to get some track experience, and the Finn struggled to match Massa’s pace when he returned to the car. But further on in his interview yesterday, Bottas says he grew in confidence as qualifying went on. Bottas added the following:-
‘I managed to improve a lot from practice, and really got a good set-up on the car ahead of qualifying. I could really trust the car and get the lines right, get every corner right. I knew that Q3 is the one that was going to matter and I needed to get everything right and be on the limit then. I tried to squeeze everything that there was.’
Even though Bottas struggled with the car in the Practice sessions, it is clear that with the team he improved the car massively and was able to get a set up that he felt confident with and was able to drive around the circuit in the best way that he can. As Bottas says, Q3 is the most important session and he was able to achieve the maximum he could out of the car and was once again rewarded with a great third place finish after the Mercedes drivers.
Overall, as Bottas says it is important for him to score some points in the race this weekend not only to keep Williams ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors but also to keep the good form that he and the Williams team have been on recently until the end of the season and in preparation for the 2015 season.
I do believe that if Bottas has an opportunity to challenge the Mercedes drivers, then he will grab the chance with both hands. However, Bottas is realistic that the Mercedes drivers and also his fellow rivals behind him are also quick this weekend and knows it will be a challenge to get a good points finish this weekend in Austin.
But there is no question that Bottas has put himself in a good position for the race and will be pushing as hard as he can to maintain this advantage or to go even better if the chance presents itself. But I believe that Bottas will do very well this weekend on a track that gave him his first points finish in Formula One last season and also a track that enjoys driving on too.
