Bottas: Williams can aim for top six this season

Valtteri Bottas caused a sensation at the Australian Grand Prix by taking fifth place despite contact with the wall forcing him to go through the pits. If Felipe Massa abandoned despite himself at the first turn after being hit by Kamui Kobayashi, the Finn showed that the FW36 had the potential to claim the podium on a regular basis. “I don’t know about Red Bull, I was never close to it, but Mercedes clearly seems too fast. However, I think we can fight with everyone else”, said the Scandinavian on Sky Sports F1. “We already have more points than last year and the car is much faster. I am very happy with what we achieved during winter testing. Malaysia will offer a very different layout, it will be a more classic track. We expect to fight for top six finishes. »

Despite the promising performance offered by the new Williams, Valtteri Bottas is aware that the development of his car is still in its early stages. “We are very competitive in top speed, it is useful for overtaking and braking”, adds the Finn. “It’s clearly a more consistent car than last year, it offers fewer surprises and that gives you more confidence. We are also efficient when braking and entering corners because we are comfortable behind the wheel. However, we still have weaknesses in terms of power and we still need to work on traction. We also need to improve in several areas, as we saw in the wet (during Australian GP qualifying). »