The 2014 Grand Prix de Monaco was a split tale for Williams Martini Racing as Felipe Massa made up nine places from 16th in Qualifying while Valtteri Bottas retired after power unit issues. The team are still anaylising to find the cause of Bottas’ failure to finish.
Massa was thrilled with his seventh place finish though. He did much of the hard work himself, though not having to stack the two FW36s during the pit stops under safety car was a massive help. By the time Scuderia Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen made an ill-advised move on the McLaren-Mercedes of Kevin Magnussen, the Brazilian had put himself in a position to take advantage.
“I am very happy with seventh after starting 16th on the grid,” Massa said. “I took some risks when I changed strategy at the safety car and had to make my tyres last, which they did. I made the most of the opportunities I had with other cars making mistakes or retiring. Many things could have happened so I am pleased they worked out for the best. A tough weekend turned into a positive one.”
Bottas on the other hand looked like he would be able to take a strong point finish before his power unit failed. He is looking to Canada for a better finish. “We had an issue with the power unit which was frustrating. There are some investigations to do to find out exactly what happened. After the start I was quickly into the points so it could have been a good weekend. Felipe finished seventh so the team can walk away with something. We now look towards Canada where we hope to be strong due to the nature of the track.”
“Felipe’s race went well,” added the team’s Head of Performance Engineering, Rob Smedley. “He recovered from 16th to seventh and stayed out of trouble, driving with a sensible head. The strategy was a risk but paid dividends as we didn’t have to stack the cars during the pit stops. Valtteri would have got some good points today, but sadly there was a failure on his car. We no have to look forward to Canada and consider where we can make improvements to continue bringing home points.”
Williams Martini Racing currently sit in sixth in the Constructor’s Championship, tied on points with McLaren Mercedes but behind on count back. Valtteri Bottas continues to rank higher than his team mate in the Driver’s battle with 34 points and seventh place compared to Massa’s 18 points and eleventh.
We had an issue with the power unit which is frustrating. There are some investigations to do to find out exactly what happened. After the start I was quickly in the points so it could have been a good weekend. Felipe finished seventh so the team can walk away with something. We now look towards Canada where we hope to be strong due to the nature of the track.
