2016 Williams Martini Racing F1 Team - Mercedes

[Sevach]

Today is Sir Frank Williams birthday.

Hopefully the team will give him something to smile about this weekend.

[LookBackTime]

CHINESE GP QUALIFYING

16 APR 2016
Shanghai, China
5.451kms / 3.387 miles

Qualifying Notes
• Valtteri Bottas qualified fifth and Felipe Massa 11th for the Chinese Grand Prix.
• Felipe missed out on making it through to Q3, after a red flag brought Q2 to a premature end
• Valtteri set his fastest time of the weekend so far on his final run in Q3

Weather: Overcast, drying track
Temperature: Air: 22-23C, Track: 23-25C

Q1
V. Bottas: 1:37.537 (3rd)
F. Massa: 1:38.016 (9th)
Quickest time: S. Vettel 1:37.001

Q2
V. Bottas: 1:36.831 (5th)
F. Massa: 1:37.347 (11th)
Quickest time: K. Raikkonen 1:36.118

Q3
V. Bottas: 1:36.296 (5th)
F. Massa: -
Quickest time: N. Rosberg 1:35.402

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: If we start with the positives, and I think there were plenty of them, it was a really great lap from Valtteri. He dragged the most out of the car and I’m very happy with that, as was he when he crossed the line. So that’s absolutely fantastic. We’ve actually moved up a bit, in respect to the frontrunners, as we’ve made up a bit of time through some good car changes here. They’re starting to pay dividends and help us learn more about the car. On the other hand, Felipe was desperately unlucky but we have a free tyre choice starting from 11th tomorrow.

Valtteri Bottas: It was a good qualifying for me, and as a team I think fifth was the maximum position. It felt great to do the lap on my second run in Q3, it was clearly my best lap of the weekend, so that was a good feeling. It’s always nice to finish qualifying knowing you’ve made the most out of it and as a team I think we are in a good position for tomorrow.

Felipe Massa: That’s not the position I wanted to have. I was a little bit unlucky with the red flag, but tomorrow in the race you never know. We have to try and do the best we can. I hope choosing the right tyres will have a positive effect, we will see tomorrow, but I’m not really happy with my position.

[Stalker1]

During the qualifing session, it seemed to me that both cars lost about 0.5s to the front runners. During the final lap, Valtteri actually gained back about 0.15s from the frontrunner at that time. He really managed to extract maximum out of himself and the car. They only lost about 0.8s+ to the Mercedes, which is good news.

https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-we ... nghai.html

The cars traction is not yet as good as Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari, but it seems that the new front wing is working, they are mastering it and they are fighting tomorrow for the 5-th and 6-th place atleast.

[Mr Brooksy]

I missed FP3 and qualifying, did Bottas use the new front wing and nose?

Thanks

[Martin_F]

During the qualifing session, it seemed to me that both cars lost about 0.5s to the front runners. During the final lap, Valtteri actually gained back about 0.15s from the frontrunner at that time. He really managed to extract maximum out of himself and the car. They only lost about 0.8s+ to the Mercedes, which is good news.

https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-we ... nghai.html

The cars traction is not yet as good as Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari, but it seems that the new front wing is working, they are mastering it and they are fighting tomorrow for the 5-th and 6-th place atleast.

Bottas didn't use the new nose/front wing in qualifying.

[Stalker1]

I thought he has the change to use it on this race weekend? Why does he not use it?

[LookBackTime]

I thought he has the change to use it on this race weekend? Why does he not use it?

Massa broke it on he run the aero test! (the second tyre incident )
see the article published on Williams FW38 Mercedes

[Mr Brooksy]

Thanks LookBack. I read that AMuS reported they were going to try and repair it. Hence the question.

Shame they still have very little data on it. Hope they produce at least another 2 for next GP to really get an understanding of the cars changed behaviour!

[Sevach]

I think that's the way to go too.

Good performance by Massa today, unfortunately 4th best is what on the menu this season.

[LookBackTime]

CHINESE GRAND PRIX

17 APR 2016

Shanghai, China
5.451kms / 3.387 miles

Race Notes:
• Felipe Massa finished sixth and Valtteri Bottas 10th in today’s Chinese Grand Prix.
• Felipe gained three places on the opening lap and managed his strategy and tyres well. He fought hard throughout and was able to hold off the Mercedes of Hamilton to finish sixth.
• Valtteri lost out at the start after avoiding a collision between two Ferraris. He ran as high as second despite the safety car disrupting his strategy, but came under attack by drivers on fresher tyres late on and crossed the line 10th.

Weather: Dry, warm
Temperature: Air: 20-21C, Track: 37-45C

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: It was a difficult race to read with the safety car and people on very different strategies. To come out of that with the car that started 10th finishing sixth means we did a good job with the strategy. We tried to minimise the stops and that was definitely right if you look at what happened with Felipe. He drove a great race and it was good to see him hold off Hamilton. To keep a faster car behind for that length of time, and to actually pull away because he managed his tyres well, was pleasing to see. Valtteri had to go wide at Turn 1 on the first lap, which put him right down the pecking order in 10th, so it was a game of catch up from there on in. His race was going pretty well until the safety car. He was a little bit off colour at the end on the mediums, so we need to have a look because that’s completely not like him. He’s usually very good at saving the tyres and getting the most out of them, so we’ll look at what happened and come back stronger for the next race. It was a good reaction from the team, on the back of Bahrain, to come and have a sensible weekend. We made some very good decisions on car set-up, which perhaps gave us a little more pace in the midfield. We still need more pace because this is not where we want to be, another two or three tenths would make a big difference.

Felipe Massa: It was a good race. I spent the whole race fighting with other cars and we got our strategy right. I was worried about my strategy when the safety car came out, because I had no idea if it would work or not, but actually after the safety car the pace was really good straight away, so I managed to build a good gap to the other guys. We managed the tyres perfectly today. I am really, really happy with my performance, it was a very enjoyable race.

Valtteri Bottas: It was a disappointing race. I was blocked at the start because of the crash between the Ferraris and lost many positions. The beginning of the race was looking alright, the pace was pretty good on the soft tyres, but once I went on to the medium tyre the pace was not there and I was struggling with overall grip. We need to check and see if everything was alright with the car, but it was difficult out there today in the last stint.

[LookBackTime]

I think that's the way to go too.

Good performance by Massa today, unfortunately 4th best is what on the menu this season.

I agree ! Third place this year only with a ton of luck

[Sevach]

I agree ! Third place this year only with a ton of luck

Red Bull is way ahead and if the rumours regarding Renault's next evolution are correct the tendency is for that gap to widen.

It would take a new car, this lineage(FW36,37,38) is reaching it's limits already imo.

[Martin_F]

Let's just hope that when they actually get to use the new nose/front wing, we'll see some improvement.

[Stalker1]

Daniil Kvyat has shown consistency and Ricciardo is quick, so unless major reliability problems hit Renault, 4-th fastest team is the reality for Williams for now. I wonder, how Force India and Mclaren improve during the season relative to Williams.

[LookBackTime]

The only good news from the team

Winners - for the third race in a row - of the DHL Fastest Pit Stop Award... @WilliamsRacing
#F1 #ChineseGP