Belgian GP: Difficult Friday practice for Williams


By Williams F1 Team
August 25 2013

Friday practice for the 2013 Belgian GP would see both Williams F1 drivers struggle in the variable waether conditions with Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas finishing in 14th and 17th respectively.

 
 Williams F1 Belgian GP Friday Practice Review
Bottas
 
Objectives
• Set-up work, tyre work, and aero evaluations.
 

Pastor Maldonado: Pastor Maldonado
"Today I was struggling to get the right balance in the car and there is still a lot of work we need to do to get us to where we want to be. We are not very far from unlocking more speed, but the others around us are also making gains which makes it difficult to close the gap. Nevertheless we will try to optimise what we have and adjust the set-up to find improvements in the balance ahead of the weekend."

Valtteri Bottas: Valtteri Bottas
"It was difficult to test anything in the first session because of the variable weather, with the track wet on one part of the circuit but dry on the other. The dry second session was more productive and we conducted some interesting tests so we will now be analysing the data from those to make improvements to the set-up for tomorrow. My car is currently more competitive on the prime tyre, and we still have work to do to improve the overall balance on the option tyre."

Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race Engineer:
Xevi Pujolar "We had limited running this morning due to the weather as the track was damp but this afternoon we completed our planned programme. We tested some different rear wing levels, worked on mechanical set-up changes and did some long runs on both compound tyres in preparation for the race. During both sessions we worked through some aerodynamic evaluations and will now look at the data to decide which direction to continue for the rest of the weekend and to be best prepared for the changeable conditions forecast for tomorrow's qualifying session. We still need to work hard to also improve overall grip ready for the race."

 
Maldonado
 
Williams F1 Classification
 
Driver Chassis & Engine FP1 FP2
       
P MALDONADO FW35-03
RS27-5447/2
1:57.081 (12th) 14 laps 1:50.991 (14th) 28 laps
       
V BOTTAS FW35-01
RS27-5421/2
1:56.858 (10th) 18 laps 1:51.568 (17th) 28 laps
       
Quickest Times
    F Alonso 1:55.198 S Vettel 1:49.331
       
 
Practice Conditions
 
  FP1 FP2
Weather Mild and damp Warm and dry
Air  & Track Temp 116 - 19C / 16 - 17C 22 - 24C / 29 - 34C
 

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