Williams cars fail to impress on drying track
Williams' Valtteri Bottas qualified 14th with Pastor Maldonado 16th for tomorrow’s Monaco Grand Prix. Both drivers progressed through into Q2, with Pastor posting the quickest time in Q1 on the intermediate tyres. As the track dried however, neither driver was able to get a clean lap to get the maximum out of the FW35 on the supersoft tyres.
Mike Coughlan, Technical Director: It was a difficult qualifying managing the changeable conditions but the team did a good job to make the right calls as to when to switch onto new tyres. In the wet Pastor showed how good he can be around this circuit, posting the quickest time in Q1. Valtteri also did a great job to be ninth in Q1 in his first ever qualifying session here in Monaco. Unfortunately as the track dried we didn’t have the pace in the FW35 and with both cars running together at the end of the session on supersoft tyres they didn’t get the most out of their final laps. We have gathered lots of useful data here though and feel we have a good development direction to take forward.
Valtteri Bottas: The conditions were not good today as they were changing all the time. We made the most of what we had and although the car is not where we want it to be, we feel we’re in a good position in terms of knowing the development direction to go. The race will be difficult with some quick cars starting behind us, but I’m confident we can still push forward and gain some positions in tomorrow’s race.
Pastor Maldonado: We were quick in Q1 as I know this track very well and in damp conditions I know where to take risks. As it was getting dry the car wasn’t working as well though, as the front was locking quite a lot. I think the top ten was possible as there is some improvement, especially if it had stayed wet. It is looking good for the future though with the data we have gathered this weekend so far.
