Williams continue strong qualifying performances
Williams' Valtteri Bottas finished second with Felipe Massa third in a very hot qualifying session. Both drivers encountered no problems during the today's sessions and were happy with their car's balance.
This is the second front row start for the team this season with Valtteri equalling his career best qualifying result.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: It was a good job by the team and a good result. We have maximised our performance throughout the weekend and the drivers did the work today to set us up well for tomorrow. Qualifying is important here and we have showed we have good race pace so it's now time to convert that into points, and hopefully further improve our championship position.
Valtteri Bottas, 2nd: "The car was feeling great today and it is ready for the race, so as a team we are pleased with the result. The last lap I had was almost perfect so I can't fault the session. The Mercedes are still a bit quicker than us, but we are going to work hard tomorrow to get in front but it will be difficult. The aim tomorrow is to keep ahead of the Ferraris and Red Bulls and hopefully the cooler temperatures predicted will play into our hands"
Felipe Massa, 3rd: "It was a very positive qualifying for us. I didn't get the perfect lap, but we are second and third, so there are no complaints. The race will be difficult so today was more important than usual and so I am delighted with the result. Hopefully we can continue this forward and have a positive day tomorrow as well."
