Saturday: Williams and Massa struggle in the rain
As in Melbourne, Williams could not exploit the potential of the FW36 during qualifying, due to the rain which relegated both drivers, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, to Q2.
Felipe Massa (No.19) – 8th and 13th
For the Brazilian, working on the car in wet conditions will be essential, especially since the car seems to perform better: « In dry conditions, we usually fight for the top 6 and the car is good, but when it’s wet, the car lacks grip and seems unstable with a lot of sliding, which is something we need to fix. It’s a shame because our qualifying result doesn’t really reflect where we should be. »
« The positive point is that the cars seem to be very close in terms of lap times, so it will allow us to overtake tomorrow, and I hope we will have very different weather conditions, » he said.
Valtteri Bottas (No. 77) – 9th and 15th [18th after penalty]
On the Finnish side, the similarities with Australia were significant: « It was a difficult qualification for us today and it reminded us a lot of Melbourne. The more water there is on the track, the more we struggle with rear grip. We tried intermediates and wets, but we just couldn’t get the grip we needed on each compound. »
For him, clearly, if rain is the kryptonite of the FW36, dry conditions would allow for a good points finish: « Wet conditions highlight our weaknesses, so we have a clear direction in which to improve the car. I still think we have a chance to fight for some points if we have a dry race. »
