Russian GP: Williams Martini 1st & 3rd in rain affected FP2


By Andrew Hooper
October 9 2015

In what was a rain affected session that saw only fourteen drivers take to the track the Williams Martini team would see their drivers finish in 1st and 3rd. Felipe Massa would lead team-mate Valtteri Bottas in a session that saw variable track conditions not only during the session but also from one part of the track to another. With Saturday expected to be dry little was really leant from this session.

 
  Williams Martini Russian GP Friday 2nd Practice
 
Massa
 

Team Summary:
After the difficulties of a track that had fuel spilt on it the Williams Martini team was now faced with rain falling prior to the start of the second Friday practise for the 2015 Russian GP. Pirelli had brought along their soft and super soft tyres as the session commenced. Ten minutes of the session completed and the weather was starting to improve with the sky getting brighter. Vettel would be the first driver to come out running on the full wet tyre. He would pit after one lap while Alonso was also out on the track but he would also pit. The track looked like it was drying fairly quickly. With just over fifty minutes remaining Alonso was back out having completed a practice start at the end of the pit lane. He would set a 2m:05.599 as Valtteri took to the track.

Rosberg was next out with forty minutes remaining. But the rain would start to fall again as Ericsson took to the track. Rosberg would pit while Hamilton also came out. Ericsson had also pitted with thirty four minutes left in the session. Sainz was also out joined by Verstappen. Kvyat was also out on the track while Alonso had lowered his quickest time with a 2m:01.077. A 2m:05.973 from Sainz as Hamilton pitted. Verstappen would set a 2m:04.858 while Kvyat would pit. Alonso would pit leaving just the Torro Rosso pair running. A 2m:00.806 would see Verstappen quickest while Sainz had set a 2m:03.805 followed by a 2m:02.805.

Both Force India cars would leave the pit lane with just over twenty minutes remaining. Button would join them as Verstappen pitted. Rosberg would return to the track while in Williams the engineers would say that there was little point in running as the track was wet in some parts and not in others. A 2m:07.812 from Button with twelve minutes remaining. Only twelve cars had gone out with just four setting a time. Both Williams cars were out on the track as the session drew to a close. Kvyat would set a 2m:01.418 to be third. Ricciardo had done one lap but would pit. Both Williams drivers would continue to circulate and Valtteri would move into fifth. Rosberg had pitted as Valtteri moved up to fourth. He would then go quickest from Verstappen and Alonso. Vettel would move ahead of Valtteri with a 2m:00.659 but Felipe would also move to the top of the times with a 2m:00.458.

Felipe Massa:
As the minutes counted down Felipe was waiting outside his pit with his helmet on waiting on a decision as when he would go out. He would then be seen with his eyes closed relaxing in his car. Felipe would follow Valtteri out for what would be his first run in the session. Felipe would set a 2m:04.511 to be sixth. His next lap was a 2m:01.880 seeing him fifth. Felipe would set a 2m:00.458 to be quickest with the end of the session.

Valtteri Bottas:
Valtteri would be the first Williams driver to come out running on the wet tyre. His lap was a real struggle and he would pit. Valtteri would tell his engineer that the conditions were quite tricky with Turns twelve through to one quite wet. With ten minutes remaining Valtteri would come back out. He would set a 2m:03.175 to be fifth and would go quickest in sector one. Valtteri would improve on his time with a 2m:01.443 to be fourth. Valtteri would set a 2m:00.782 to go quickest. He would improve with 2m:00.688 prior to pitting finishing in the session in third.

 
Bottas
 

Pos  Driver         	Team		        Gap      Laps
1  Felipe Massa		Williams-Mercedes	2m00.458s 6
2  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari			2m00.659s 8
3  Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	2m00.688s 8
4  Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	2m00.806s 7
5  Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda		2m01.077s 12
6  Daniil Kvyat		Red Bull-Renault	2m01.418s 6
7  Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso-Renault	2m02.805s 7
8  Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda		2m02.845s 8
9  Nico Rosberg		Mercedes		-	- 6
10 Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		-	- 3
11 Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		-	- 3
12 Sergio Perez		Force India-Mercedes	-	- 3
13 Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	-	- 3
14 Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	-	- 1
 
Bottas
 

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Russian GP: Williams Martini 1st & 3rd in rain affected FP2
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 09/10/2015 13:56
Williams F1
09/10/2015 13:56
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