Valtteri Bottas believed Williams Martini Racing were about where they expected to be in qualifying for the Mexican Grand Prix on Saturday, but the Finn is aiming higher for race day.
Bottas qualified eighth on the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but has ambitions to finish ahead of both of the Sahara Force India F1 Team racers, with Nico Hülkenberg the main focus as he starts ahead of the Finn in fifth.
Bottas is hopeful of a strong race, but knows getting the strategy calls right could be the difference between a good race and a poor result.
“It was a very good qualifying session and we finished more or less where we should have done today,” said Bottas. “It was a shame we couldn’t get through with the option tyre because now we’re starting the race on Supersofts.
“We just really need to try and be clever with our strategy because there’s a big difference between the Supersoft, Soft and the Medium tyre on this track in terms of tyre life.
“We need to make sure we get everything right tomorrow. It’s a good starting point for the race. We’ve split the Force India’s, so the main thing is we try and be ahead of both of them. We can beat them.”
