Formula 1

Bottas delighted to split the Ferraris again in Spain

2 Mins read

At the Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya this afternoon, the Williams Martini F1 Team managed to extend their lead over their rivals the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Team in the Constructors Championship with their drivers Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finishing in fourth and sixth places.

Bottas’ long second stint in the race on the option tyre allowed the team to change from a three-stop to a two-stop race; helping him to keep the closing Ferrari of Räikkönen at bay in the final laps. Meanwhile, Massa managed to make up positions in the opening stint and drove an untroubled and consistent race to collect much needed points for the team.

Bottas expressed his delight at being able to spilt the Scuderia Ferrari drivers for the second consecutive race in a row after managing their tyre wear effectively; while also highlighting that the upgrades brought this weekend have worked and he thanks the team and also Mercedes Benz for their hard work.

“It feels good to split the Ferraris for a second race in a row and this has been another solid points haul for the team, “ said Bottas. “Tyre life was better than we expected and as a result we changed from a three-stop to a two-stop race, which was a good strategic choice from the team because it allowed me to keep Räikkönen behind.
“The big positive is that we were closer to the leaders than we have been at any point this season. That gives me a lot of hope because we have shown that the updates we are bringing are improving our performance. I want to thank all the team here and in Grove for providing me with a great car to go racing with, and I’d also like to thank Mercedes HPP as they continue to push hard on the power unit to help us keep our competitors at bay.”

Meanwhile, team-mate Massa believes that it was a great race for the team after scoring 20 points and extending their gap in the Constructors Championship. But Massa believes that their performance this weekend has shown that they can get close to the Ferraris and is looking forward to Monaco in a few weeks time.

It was a good race for the team, scoring 20 points, not losing too much to Ferrari, but also getting a lot more than Red Bull which is really important and positive for our championship position,” said Massa. “I managed to overtake cars on the first lap and then fought hard with Kimi  for a long time, which was hard on the tyres.
“Because of the extra degradation a three-stop race was better for me today, but it meant the others were too far ahead. We finished with one car in front of a Ferrari so we have shown that we can be competitive with them and we can now look forward to Monaco which will be a very different test for the car.”
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English Literature and History Graduate. Writing about the sport for two and a half years and currently alongside TCF write for Driving For Pleasure and Jones On F1. Big F1 fan (especially McLaren and Jenson Button) but also love Everton Football club, music, TV and books.
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