For the Williams Martini team the results of the 2014 Russian GP would see the team secure another podium finish with Valtteri Bottas finishing 3rd. Valtteri would spend the majority of the race running in second only losing this place later in the race. Team-mate Felipe Massa would finish in 11th having pitted twice but was not able to get the best out of the soft tyres that he spent just about the whole race running on. A great result but once again it seemed like the FW36 lacked the pace to secure a result that would see both drivers in the points and Valtteri a second place.
Russian GP Race Review
Qualifying had
seen Williams Martini driver Valtteri Bottas finishing in third but for his
team-mate his qualifying had seen him have issues finishing down in
eighteenth. On ole was Hamilton followed by Rosberg, Valtteri, Button,
Kvyat, Ricciardo, Alonso, Raikkonen, Vergne and Vettel starting from tenth.
With tyre degradation quite low it was expected that the race would be a one
stop one. Several drivers had taken grid penalties with Hulkenberg dropping to seventeenth. The top nine would all be
starting on used soft tyres while of those behind we had Perez, Sutil,
Hulkenberg, Felipe, Kobayashi, Chilton, and Maldonado all using medium
tyres. Magnussen who had been in the top ten final qualifying period would
start from eleventh on used soft tyres while Vettel who was starting from
tenth would be on the new soft tyres. The grid would move away with Hamilton
leading and they would return to take up their grid spots. Of the top nine
several had quite a large number of laps on the tyres already so may have to
pit earlier than expected.
With the grid formed up the lights would come on and then go off and we
would have Hamilton leading but Rosberg would challenge his team-mate at the
first corner taking the lead. Valtteri was in third as Rosberg ran wide at
Turn two in his move past Hamilton. He would be told to give the lead back
to Hamilton. Rosberg had locked up and would say that he had to pit. Felipe
would also come into the pits as Hamilton led from Valtteri and Button.
Rosberg had changed to the medium tyres and would come back out in
twentieth. Alonso was in fourth followed by Vergne, Magnussen, Vettel,
Ricciardo, Kvyat, and Raikkonen. Magnussen would pass Vergne for fifth while
for Williams Felipe was running last, but he was on the option tyre. On lap
four Felipe would set a fastest lap but was in twentieth. Rosberg was down
in seventeenth while team-mate Hamilton was leading Valtteri by 2.4 seconds.
Ricciardo was
right behind sixth placed Vettel with Vergne close to the two Red Bull cars.
Alonso was close behind third place Button with six of the fifty three laps
completed. Raikkonen had pushed Kvyat down to tenth while Button had been
able to move away from Alonso to be 2.4 seconds ahead after lap eight.
Felipe was now up to seventeenth and Rosberg fifteenth. On his medium tyres
Perez was now eleventh and closing in onto tenth placed Kvyat. Chilton would
pit and would be pushed back into his garage. Lap eleven and Hamilton was
now leading by 3.3 seconds over Valtteri. Ricciardo would pit on lap twelve
changing to the medium tyre. In total, including qualifying, he had done
nineteen laps on his soft tyres. Chilton would retire in his pit
ending a difficult weekend for the Marussia team.
Button was 10.7 seconds behind Valtteri as Sutil pitted returning in
twentieth. Magnussen was in fifth followed by Vettel, Vergne, Raikkonen,
Kvyat, and Perez now tenth. Felipe would pass Hulkenberg for thirteenth now
running behind Rosberg. Both Rosberg and Felipe would pass Gutierrez with
Rosberg now eleventh. Hamilton's lead over Valtteri was increasing with it
now 4.7 seconds after lap sixteen. Valtteri was told that everything was looking great. Despite this Valtteri continued to lose
time to Hamilton while team-mate Rosberg would pass Perez for tenth. Kvyat
would pit from ninth on lap twenty one taking on the medium tyre. Grosjean
had also come in also taking the medium. Felipe continued to follow Perez
looking to get past. Button would pit on lap twenty three taking on the
medium tyre coming back out in ninth.
Rosberg was now
in eighth as Vergne pitted on lap twenty four changing to the medium tyre.
He would return in fourteenth with the order now Hamilton from Valtteri,
Alonso, Magnussen, Vettel, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Button, Perez, and Felipe in
tenth. Hulkenberg would also pit returning in sixteenth having taken on the
soft tyre. Alonso would also pit from third the next lap taking on the medium tyre but
his stop was slow. Perez would also pit while for Williams Valtteri would
pit on lap twenty seven. Magnussen would also come in from third with both
taking on the medium tyre. Valtteri would come back out in third behind
Vettel who had not yet pitted. Raikkonen had also come in from seventh while
Hamilton would pit on lap twenty seven also taking on his medium tyres.
Hamilton would return in the lead with Vettel still second and Valtteri
third.
Felipe would also come back in for the second time again taking on another
set of soft tyres. Felipe would return in fourteenth while at the front
Rosberg would close in onto Valtteri with the Williams still behind the Red
Bull of Vettel. In fifth was Button followed by Magnussen, Alonso,
Ricciardo, Gutierrez, and Raikkonen tenth. Vettel would pit on lap thirty
one taking on the medium tyre while on the track Rosberg was
able to get past Valtteri at Turn two. Valtteri would be forced to run wide
but would come back in third. Valtteri was told that Rosberg's tyres would
suffer from degradation and that they will be able to get back past him.
Rosberg was now second 19.7 seconds behind Hamilton. Felipe was still in
fourteenth right behind Perez but he was six seconds behind tenth placed
Raikkonen. Rosberg now had thirty three laps on his medium tyre as both
Perez and Felipe would pass Kvyat for twelfth. Felipe was now thirteenth as
Valtteri was told that Rosberg was pushing and is looking to make another
stop.
Kvyat continued
to drop places with Hulkenberg looking to get past the Torro Rosso. He would
do so at Turn two after Kvyat made a mistake running wide. Rosberg continued
to close the gap to Hamilton as Perez and Felipe closed in onto Vergne.
Kvyat would pit on lap thirty eight to take on soft tyres after having
complained over a bad vibration after having flat spotted his front tyres.
Gutierrez would finally make his pit stop having used his soft tyres for thirty seven laps. Felipe was now in
eleventh and Perez tenth. Rosberg's chase of Hamilton would end as he
started to lose time to team-mate Hamilton. Valtteri was now 5.5 seconds
behind Rosberg with Button in fourth. Magnussen was fifth followed by
Alonso, Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikkonen, and Perez tenth. Felipe continued to
run behind Perez looking to get into the points.
Ricciardo was running behind Alonso who was in sixth while Perez was told
that he was desperate on fuel. Valtteri would set a new fastest lap closing
in onto Rosberg with forty six laps completed, with seven remaining. AS the
laps counted down Felipe continued to run behind Perez while Valtteri was
not looking like he could close the gap to Rosberg quickly enough to get
past for second with just three laps remaining. Hamilton would start his final lap with Rosberg still second followed by
Valtteri. Hamilton would complete the final lap taking his thirty first
Grand Prix win. With Rosberg finishing second Mercedes would secure the 2014
Constructors title. Valtteri would finish third seeing him move up to fourth
in the drivers title. Button was fourth followed by Magnussen, Alonso,
Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikkonen, and Perez tenth..
For Williams a
third place sees them maintain their third place in the Constructors
championship over Ferrari. But even with the podium finish of Valtteri the
results for the race could have been very different. But as Valtteri would
say after the race that his pace was not good enough even after having set
several quickest laps at the end of the race. The same could be said of
Felipe who despite running on the soft tyre for nearly the whole race could
not get past Perez for the final point.
Bottas would say in the post race interview: "I need to be happy for us as a team. What we have been
doing since last year is amazing. We were today best of the rest. We did the
best we could from where we started so we need to be happy for the team."
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