In the opening day of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas believes the car was difficult to drive.
The Williams Martini Racing driver just missed out of the top ten after finishing Free Practice 1 in eleventh behind the Scuderia Toro Rosso of Carlos Sainz Jr, with a time of 1:17.562. The Finnish driver had a moment going through the tunnel where he nearly collided with the barrier but managed to save it.
Bottas improved on this time in Free Practice 2, setting a fastest time of 1:16.849 but everyone else improved on their morning session. He finished in fourteenth behind the Haas F1 of Esteban Gutierrez. The times are all very close and Bottas believes any gain they achieve before qualifying will be very useful to them.
“We did a lot of laps today,” said Bottas. “The car set-up felt better than what we have tried here before. At the same time, it was more difficult to drive, with quite a bit of oversteer, so I was a little nervous.
“I had a bit of a moment in FP1, but that’s part of it. It’s a tough track. The times are looking very close, so any gain we can make before qualifying will be very useful.”
