Williams F1 Team prays for dry weather in Melbourne

Williams F1 Team was not at the party in the rain of Melbourne even if the British team managed to win Q3 with its two cars, which is a real feat compared to last year's performances. The cars with the famous Martini livery were unable to fight for the first positions on the grid of the Australian Grand Prix due to poor behavior in the rain. “It was an up and down session with the changing weather having an impact on our performance”, admits Rod Nelson, the team's chief engineer. “We had two good first sessions, but we weren't able to get the best out of the intermediate tires at the end of Q3. This start to the season is promising given our speed, particularly in the dry. We don't expect any rain tomorrow, which should help Felipe (Massa) and Valtteri (Bottas) to gain positions in order to have both cars in the points. »

Felipe Massa will start from ninth place, between the Toro Rosso de Daniil Kvyat and McLaren de Jenson Button, and will be the spearhead of the team. The Brazilian is delighted to see the British team in better shape compared to last season. “It's a real progression for the team to have both cars in Q3, but we undoubtedly had a car capable of aiming for a better position on the grid. There car was performing well in the dry during the last practice session and the first qualifying session, but we suffered with the downforce on the rear of the car in the wet. These conditions certainly penalized us more than the others. The race should be very unpredictable tomorrow with reliability playing an important role. So we need to make sure that we don't have any problems with the car and that we exploit our best performance in the dry to gain positions. »

His teammate Valtteri Bottas will face an even greater challenge as he will only start from 15th position after receiving a five-place penalty following a gearbox change at the end of the final session. 'tests. “ The variable conditions were very difficult for everyone and I am a little disappointed to finish tenth in Q3”, adds the Finn. “We had the potential to do better, but we struggled to get the grooved tires to work well. It's a shame I had to change my gearbox because our reliability seemed good during testing. But our speed seems quite good in the dry and we should be able to finish in the hand points if the time is in our favor. »

The Australian Grand Prix will be contested from 7 a.m. French time and can be followed live on AUTOhebdo.fr. Photos from the weekend can be found on this link.