Malaysian GP: Williams Martini 5th & 6th in FP3


By Andrew Hooper
March 28 2015

The final Saturday practice for the 2015 Malaysian GP would see Williams Martini drivers Felipe Massa and Valtteri BOttas finish 5th & 6th. It was an uneventful session for the Williams team with both drivers not taking to the track until late in the session for a short un on the hard tyre followed by their medium tyre qualification simulations.

 
  Williams Martini Malaysian GP Saturday Practice
 
Bottas
 

Team Summary:
After the final practice session the Williams Martini team would see their drivers finish in fifth and sixth, with Felipe Massa leading Valtteri Bottas by the smallest of margins. Again both Ferrari's were in front of the Williams pair showing that they are looking like serious competition this year.

Felipe Massa:
Felipe would follow Valtteri out also on the hard tyre. He would come in also after one lap while out on the track the first time was set by Stevens in the Manor with a 1m:49.397 already on the medium tyre. More drivers were out with Kyvat now fastest with a 1m:41.980. Felipe was still in his car having a drink. The track was now showing 56 degrees some of the hottest conditions seen by Pirelli. Felipe would be the first back out running on the hard tyre. Felipe would start his timed lap while Rosberg would set a 1m:40.392 to be quickest. Felipe's first time was a 1m:47.437 but his next lap was a 1m:41.301 to be third. Felipe was asked if he wanted to try a different torque map to help with the balance of the car, which Felipe said was ok. Felipe's car was looking difficult with moments at Turn three and fourteen. Felipe would drop to fourth as Vettel went second.

With just under thirty minutes remaining Felipe was fifth behind Hamilton. Felipe would complain over oversteer having said that he had lost the rear tyres. Felipe had run straight on at Turn four after a big lockup. Felipe would pit and was asked if he wanted one degree less front wing. Felipe said yes to the change. Felipe would follow Valtteri out for his qualifying simulation. Felipe would follow Valtteri going quickest in sector one. Felipe would go second with a 1m:40.391 to be 0.015 ahead of Valtteri. But Felipe was also 0.7 behind Rosberg. Felipe had dropped to fourth behind Rosberg, Hamilton, and Raikkonen. Felipe was now fifth behind Vettel and the final minutes counted down.

Valtteri Bottas:
For Williams Valtteri would be first out running on the hard tyre. Valtteri would pit after one installation lap. With fifteen minutes of the session completed Valtteri was still in his pit. Twenty minutes of the session completed and Valtteri had yet to come back out. Valtteri would follow Felipe out for his first run. Valtteri would set a 1m:41.337 to be second but this would become third as Ricciardo moved into second on the medium tyre. Valtteri had dropped to fourth just 0.036 behind his team-mate. Valtteri was 0.9 behind Rosberg but with Rosberg improving, 1m:40.252, it moved out to over a second.

Valtteri had dropped to sixth. Valtteri had also pitted along with most of the field. Valtteri would be first to come out for his medium tyre run. Joining Valtteri out on the track were both Mercedes cars. Ten minutes remaining and Valtteri would go quickest quickest in sector one as Rosberg set a 1m:39.690. Valtteri would set a 1m:40.406 to be 0.7s behind Rosberg. With Hamilton second followed by Raikkonen Valtteri was now fifth. With Vettel going fourth Valtteri would drop to sixth.

 
Massa
 

Pos  Driver         	Team		     Time       Laps
1  Nico Rosberg		Mercedes	     1m39.690s	13
2  Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	     1m39.873s	10
3  Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari		     1m40.245s	9
4  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari		     1m40.266s	13
5  Felipe Massa		Williams/Mercedes    1m40.391s	14
6  Valtteri Bottas	Williams/Mercedes    1m40.406s	15
7  Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull/Renault     1m40.590s	19
8  Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso/Renault   1m40.601s	19
9  Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso/Renault   1m40.989s	18
10 Marcus Ericsson	Sauber/Ferrari	     1m41.200s	19
11 Romain Grosjean	Lotus/Mercedes	     1m41.206s	16
12 Pastor Maldonado	Lotus/Mercedes	     1m41.592s	18
13 Daniil Kvyat		Red Bull/Renault     1m41.775s	14
14 Nico Hulkenberg	Force India/Mercedes 1m41.804s	15
15 Fernando Alonso	McLaren/Honda	     1m41.991s	13
16 Sergio Perez		Force India/Mercedes 1m42.099s	14
17 Felipe Nasr		Sauber/Ferrari	     1m42.117s	18
18 Jenson Button	McLaren/Honda	     1m42.319s	13
19 Roberto Merhi	Marussia/Ferrari     1m46.647s	9
20 Will Stevens		Marussia/Ferrari     1m47.059s	6
 
Bottas
 

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Malaysian GP: Williams Martini 5th & 6th in FP3
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