Sunday: There is improvement on the Williams side
Valtteri Bottas was close to scoring his first point in the Formula 1 World Championship today, but the Finn ultimately finished in 11th place, less than 2 seconds behind the 10th place, Vergne. Pastor Maldonado, on the other hand, did not finish the race due to a KERS problem that forced him to stop on the track.
Valtteri Bottas – 11th:
I got off to a good start but then went off the dry line while battling against Van der Garde and went wide, ending up at the back of the pack. Once the track started to dry up, I was able to start overtaking a few cars and had a good race. The team did a great job with the strategy and, with a few more laps, I could have started to push for a championship point. We maximized what we had today but I have confidence in the team and we will keep working together to improve.
Pastor Maldonado – Abandonment:
The intermediate tires made the start of the race very difficult as it was very slippery, especially in the first sector. We had a good strategy by stopping early and opting for slick tires. I made a small mistake while braking in turn 11 which caused me to go wide and damaged my front wing. After a new set of tires, the pace in the second stint was good, but unfortunately, my race ended earlier than expected due to a KERS issue that made me stop. We will now work very hard to prepare as best as possible for the next two races.
