Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finished a somewhat disappointing fifth place in the Japanese Grand Prix.
Having put his FW37 an impressive third on the grid, the Finn clung on to the final podium position until early in his second stint, when he was passed by Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, later on his team mistimed his second stop, allowing Kimi Raikkonen to gain the advantage thanks to the undercut.
“Defending from the quicker cars was hard and I think we should have pitted earlier for the final stop, but it’s always easier to say that after the race.”
Despite missing the chance of a top three finish, Bottas appeared to take the positives moving forward into the final five races of the season.
“Not a perfect day for us, but we will take the ten points. I was hoping for a podium, but the pace wasn’t as good as we had expected.”
The 26-year old’s fifth place means that he stays fifth in the Driver’s Standings, although he has extended his slim lead over teammate Felipe Massa and Williams have now opened up a 69 point lead over rivals Red Bull in the battle over third place in the Constructors’ Championship with races still to take place in Russia, United States, Mexico, Brazil and the twilight race in Abu Dhabi.
