Williams F1 Team 2013

[Sevach]

My mistake. He jumped straight from British F3.

No problem it was a long time ago.

Anyway... the decision for Bottas to skip GP2 was pretty much a decision from within the Williams team, no reason to blame him for that.
If they told him "on to GP2 now" he would've done it.

[drunkmunky]

no reserve driver info atm.

[Hail22]

Most likely the "Test" driver role will be handed to Susie Wolff (Toto Wolffs wife) will take that job as he will most likely pull rank on the team.

[Sevach]

Cecotto might be possible, you know... Venezuelan.
You only need someone for the young drivers test this days, let's see who they go for.

[raymondu999]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saMzaaNwRiE[/youtube]

[lukeaar]

I know a few of you track times fairly religiously, and I'm wondering if any of you could provide a summary of how Bottas went in the Fridays he drove in this year. Something like a summary of time deltas away from Maldonado vs comparable deltas between Maldonado and Senna? How did he go generally within the field, all things considered?

[raymondu999]

Are we talking one-lap hits, or long run?

[lukeaar]

either/or. Whatever you can tell me

[stefan_]

Comparisons between Maldonado and Bottas during the FP1 sessions in which Bottas took place.

Malaysia:
Valtteri Bottas - 1:39.724 (11th)
P. Maldonado - 1:39.783 (12th)

China:
Valtteri Bottas - 1:40.298 (13th)
P. Maldonado - 1:40.540 (15th)

Bahrain:
P. Maldonado - 1:35.268 (12th)
Valtteri Bottas - 1:35.497 (14th)

Spain:
Valtteri Bottas - 1:25.120 (5th)
P. Maldonado - 1:26.297 (17th)

Europe:
P. Maldonado - 1:40.890 (1st)
Valtteri Bottas - 1:42.299 (16th)

Great Britain:
Valtteri Bottas - 1:59.733 (13th)
P. Maldonado - 2:00.125 (15th)

Germany:
P. Maldonado - 1:18.020 (8th)
Valtteri Bottas - 1:18.422 (13th)

Hungary:
Valtteri Bottas - 1:24.152 (9th)
P. Maldonado - 1:24.300 (11th)

Belgium:
P. Maldonado - 2:11.941 (2nd)
Valtteri Bottas - 2:14.660 (8th)

Italy:
P. Maldonado - 1:26.504 (
Valtteri Bottas - 1:26.641

Japan:
P. Maldonado - 1:35.478 (10th)
Valtteri Botats - 1:36.389 (13th)

Korea:
P. Maldonado - 1:41.048 (10th)
Valtteri Bottas - 1:42.027 (18th)

India:
Valtteri Bottas - 1:29.691 (11th)
P. Maldonado - 1:30.041 (16th)

Abu Dhabi:
P. Maldonado - 1:45.115 (7th)
Valtteri Bottas - 1:45.347 (9th)

Brazil:
P. Maldonado - 1:15.015 (9th)
Valtteri Bottas - 1:15.413 (14th)

Note the fact that Bottas was on the "give it all in one session" programme in comparison with the other drivers who were setting up the car, doing long-runs, running and evaluating updates etc.

[lukeaar]

I think it still bodes well for the 2013 season, given the amount of time in the car vs Maldonado. His results are very good, really.

[KATO]

Wow very impressed with Bottas can't wait to see how he does with a full 3 practices and then in Qulifiers I also want to see his race pace. He's looks like he's goin to be strong for quialifiers. I lf he's good in overtaking and can have a decent race pace and the Williams is reliable next season I see them fighting for 6th in the constructors.

[TzeiTzei]

I dont think GP2 is anymore "the last step before F1". Just look at the drivers, oldtimers and paydrivers.

[Vasconia]

Button and Vettel did similar competitions (FR 3,5 / F3000 - which are more or less equivalent to GP2). Bottas could have done FR 3,5 this year not to go over his test days at Williams but he choose to do nothing. I think there are other guys with a lot more testing and support competitions than him and they still aren't in F1.

With Kimi is another story, nowdays you have a clear path and a number of different competitions that you normally would want to take in order to develop your skills gradually.

I don't have anything agains Valtteri, as I said - I hope he does well, but he sends a wrong message. If you have the money, you can push yourself through.

This wrong message has been already sent before(Senna is a good example), at least Valery seems to have more talent, so lets see what happens.

I like this line-up, and if the team continues the improvement shown in 2012 we will see interesting things from Williams, its good to have a so historic team back in the fight(at least in some races).

[FW17]

A good number 3

Not a threat

Dependable test driver

Sort of like antonio pizzonia, petro de la rosa

Who do we have now?

[raymondu999]

A good number 3

Not a threat

Dependable test driver

Sort of like antonio pizzonia, petro de la rosa

Who do we have now?

Who are we talking about again?