Williams wants to get back to scoring points in Valencia

Pastor Maldonado won the Spanish Grand Prix to everyone’s surprise, but then the Venezuelan driver drew a blank in Monaco and Montreal. He remains convinced that the FW34 is competitive and hopes to prove it on the Valencia street circuit this weekend: «We are constantly developing the car, and it seems good on long stints for now, and hope that we can do better than in the last races and score some good points.»

However, Maldonado acknowledges that properly setting up the FW34 will not be easy given the characteristics of the Valencia circuit: Valencia is a real challenge for drivers because it combines a city circuit, which is used by cars the rest of the year, with sections worthy of a real circuit, so it’s tricky to find the best settings. The layout is quite fast with long straights, but there are also slow corners, so finding the right balance will be crucial to perform well.

Bruno Senna, his teammate agrees, it won’t be easy to properly set up the FW34, but the Brazilian driver hopes to return to the points after a difficult race in Montreal: « Street circuits are always a real challenge for a driver and Valencia is no different. It requires good top speed combined with a good braking system to tackle areas with heavy braking. Our pace in Canada didn’t really reflect the car’s potential, but we have worked very hard to understand why and hope we can put that behind us and achieve a better result here. »

Mark Gillan, the head of track engineers, sets a similar goal for his two drivers; he hopes to see both of them finish in the top 10 at the end of the European Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon: «After the results of the last two races, we want to continue demonstrating the progress made by the team and ensure we can place our two cars in the points at the finish.»

Gillan believes that this weekend in Valencia, tire management will be a key factor, just like proper cooling of the cars, similar to Montreal: « Valencia is a challenging circuit for both drivers and cars, and with track evolution expected throughout the weekend, tire management will once again be crucial. Pirelli is bringing the Medium and Soft tires for this race, a pair we last used in Bahrain. The circuit puts a lot of stress on the braking system, and the high ambient temperatures, combined with a below-average speed, force us to create openings in the car to ensure proper cooling.»