Friday: The Williams seems competitive in Abu Dhabi
Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado expressed happiness with the performance of the FW34 on the Yas Marina circuit. Bruno Senna, on the other hand, experienced some issues but is confident that the Williams team engineers will find a solution to perform better tomorrow.
Pastor Maldonado – 7th and 9th:
« Today was much better (than previous Fridays, editor’s note) because everything went well and I’m delighted. Our pace on long runs seems fast once again, the qualifying pace less so, but I think we are still good compared to what everyone else did today. Qualifying will be important here because it’s difficult to overtake. I like this circuit and we seem competitive. »
Valtteri Bottas – 9th [Free Practice 1]:
« I know this track well, which made things easier today because I was able to get to work right away. After the first stint, I knew how the car could behave and we were able to continue some tests started in India and gather even more data. Pastor was slightly faster in his last stint during free practice 1, but before that, we had identical times, so it’s nice to know that I have good pace, even though I think I could have done better. I love this circuit and the paddock atmosphere, and driving on this track under the hotel is truly unique. »
Bruno Senna – 11th [Free Practice 2]:
« It was a complicated day. Tire degradation was quite high and we also had some issues with the brakes, making it difficult to understand the car’s behavior. However, we collected a lot of data and we can work on it for tomorrow. Qualifying in the top 10 is possible, as we saw with Pastor’s car pace, so we will work hard tonight to improve for tomorrow. »
