Brazilian GP: Bottas 5th while Massa struggles in FP3


By Andrew Hooper
November 14 2015

The final practice session for the 2015 Brazilian GP would see William,s Martini driver Valtetri Bottas finish in 5th but for team-mate Felipe Massa his session would again see him down the times in 12th. For Valtteri getting into Q3 in qualifying looks to be straight forward but for Felipe it may be far more difficult. Valtteri also has to contend with a three grid place penalty.

 
  Williams Martini Brazilian GP Saturday Practice
 
Bottas
 

Team Summary:
With heavy rain overnight the track at Interlagos would be quite different as the Williams Martini team prepared for the final sixty minute practice session. The first time would come from Rossi in the Manor with a 1m:18.873 but Nasr would set a 1m:15.367. Stevens was second followed by Rossi and Ericsson. A 1m:14.960 from Nasr remaining fastest with Ericsson now second. Both Force India's were out on the track but there was no sign of the Williams cars with ten minutes completed. Hulkenberg and Perez were now second and third as more drivers started to come out. Perez would go quickest with a 1m:14.991 but was passed by Raikkonen with a 1m:14.373. Button was fifth and Ricciardo sixth as Sainz moved up to third. A 1m:14.098 from Raikkonen with Verstappen now second and Perez third.

Vettel would go fastest with a 1m:14.062 with Valtteri now third. Verstappen would move ahead of Valtteri as Hamilton stopped out on the track with no gears but was able to get back to his garage. Sainz was fifth behind Valtteri. With the majority of the cars back in the pits both Williams cars continued to put in laps on the medium tyre. Rosberg would complete his quick lap setting a 1m:13.753 to be quickest by 0.3 over Vettel. Hamilton had rejoined the track and would set a 1m:13.647 to go quickest but Rosberg would respond with a 1m:13.324. With thirty minutes remaining Valtteri and Felipe were sixth and fourteenth. Both drivers were setting times in the low 1m:16s as they continued on their long runs.

The track was again very busy with Kvyat first onto the soft tyre. Vettel would improve with a 1m:13.975 but remained third. Hamilton would spin at Turn 11 while on a quick lap and would pit. Rosberg would also come in with the order Rosberg, Hamilton, Vettel, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Valtteri, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Grosjean, and Maldonado tenth. Twenty minutes remaining and Kvyat would set a 1m:13.958 to be third. He would improve with a 1m:13.829 remaining third. With fifteen minutes remaining the track was now empty with Ricciardo first out on the soft tyre. Rosberg would follow him out also on the soft tyre. A 1m:13.572 from Ricciardo to be second as Hamilton came out. More drivers would come out for their qualifying simulation runs.

A 1m:12.070 from Hamilton with Hulkenberg now third behind Rosberg. Everyone except for Ricciardo was out on the track. A 1m:12.193 from Rosberg would see him remain second while Raikkonen was now third followed by Hulkenberg and Perez. Maldonado was sixth with Ricciardo now seventh. Vettel would move into third ahead of Raikkonen and Valtteri. The session would end with Valtteri and Felipe fifth and twelfth. It was looking like Valtteri would be able to get into Q3 but for Felipe it might be a bit more difficult.

Felipe Massa:
Felipe would be first out for the Williams team running on the medium tyre. He would complete his installation lap prior to pitting. Felipe would also come out for his first run and would set a 1m:15.142 to be tenth. He would drop to eleventh behind Kvyat. Felipe was now twelfth as he continued to lap the circuit. He would continue to drop down the times now in fourteenth. Felipe would also pit having completed sixteen laps. Felipe would be first back for Williams on his simulation run. Felipe would complete his lap with a 1m:13.742 to be tenth but he would drop to twelfth.

Valtteri Bottas:
Valtteri would follow Felipe out also starting on the medium tyre. Valtteri would also pit after one lap. With just under forty five minutes remaining Valtteri would come out and with a 1m:14.535 would move up to third. He would drop to fourth and then fifth. Valtteri was currently sixth having completed eleven laps. Valtteri would pit having completed seventeen laps. Valtteri was also back out on his soft tyre run. His run would see him set a 1m:13.335 to be fifth behind Raikkonen. Valtteri's engineer would say "Remember to drink," with Valtteri responding "Not thirsty."

 
Bottas
 

Pos  Driver         	Team		        Time     Laps
1  Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1m12.070s 16
2  Nico Rosberg		Mercedes		1m12.193s 19
3  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari			1m12.760s 19
4  Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari			1m13.096s 20
5  Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1m13.335s 25
6  Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1m13.345s 19
7  Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Mercedes		1m13.437s 19
8  Sergio Perez		Force India-Mercedes	1m13.506s 18
9  Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Mercedes		1m13.534s 20
10 Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Renault	1m13.548s 21
11 Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-Renault	1m13.572s 23
12 Felipe Massa		Williams-Mercedes	1m13.742s 24
13 Daniil Kvyat		Red Bull-Renault	1m13.829s 17
14 Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda		1m13.850s 19
15 Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso-Renault	1m13.959s 23
16 Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		1m14.185s 23
17 Felipe Nasr		Sauber-Ferrari		1m14.288s 22
18 Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda		1m14.445s 17
19 Will Stevens		Marussia-Ferrari	1m16.671s 15
20 Alexander Rossi	Marussia-Ferrari	1m17.059s 15
 
Williams Garage
 

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Brazilian GP: Bottas 5th while Massa struggles in FP3
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