Russian GP: 5th & 6th for Williams Martini in FP3


By Andrew Hooper
April 30 2016

The final practice session for the 2016 Russian GP would see the Williams Martini team show a more competitive pace with their drivers finishing in 5th and 6th. Felipe Massa would lead his team-mate Valtteri Bottas in what was a very positive result as the Williams team prepares for qualifying.

 
  Williams Martini Russian GP Saturday Practice
 
Bottas
 

Team Summary:
Both Williams Martini team drivers would take to the track for the Saturday practice session at the Sochi circuit. They would use medium tyres for their installation laps. The first time would be set by Palmer with a 1m:45.366. But Ricciardo would set a 1m:40.279, running on the supersoft tyre. The first quick time would come from Perez with a 1m:39.151, followed by Sainz and Verstappen. All the quickest times were on the supersoft tyre with Ricciardo now quickest with a 1m:38.895. The Virtual Safety Car would be deployed with Perez off next the side of the track having failed to make the corner at Turn Thirteen. With the help of the marshals Perez was able to get going again and return to the track.

The Manor cars were now eighth and ninth as Raikkonen moved into second. Both Williams cars would come out for their first run using the supersoft tyre. Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:38.217 but team-mate Rosberg would set a 1m:37.722 but Rosberg had set his time having gone wide at the final corner. After their first runs Valtteri and Felipe were fifth and seventh. Hamilton was again quickest with a 1m:37.325. But Rosberg would return to the top with a 1m:37.224. Twenty five minutes remaining and Felipe and Valtteri were fourth and sixth. Both Williams drivers would pit with the pair having completed seven laps each. Both Williams drivers would pit returning on new supersoft tyres for what should be qualifying simulations with fifteen minutes remaining. After their runs Felipe and Valtteri were in third and fourth.

Rosberg would set a 1m:36.783 to improve on his quickest time. Hamilton was right behind but remained in second with a 1m:36.953. Raikkonen would move into third pushing the Williams driver down to fourth and fifth. This would become fifth and sixth as Vettel went third quickest. Rosberg would go quicker again with a 1m:36.471 to be 0.482 ahead of Hamilton. Right near the end of the session Hamilton would go quickest with a 1m:36.403, leading Rosberg by just 0.06.

Felipe Massa:
Felipe would follow Valtteri out also on the medium tyre. Felipe would pit after one installation lap. Felipe would also return to the track also on the supersoft tyre. Felipe would set a 1m:39.113 to be sixth, dropping to seventh as Valtteri set a quick time. Felipe would improve with a 1m:38.569 to be fourth. Felipe would pit briefly returning for a further lap but he would pit again again returning to the track. He would pit again but would return to the track also running on new supersoft tyres. On his new tyres Felipe would move into third with a 1m:37.919. Felipe was now fourth and he would pit briefly. Felipe would also pit with a few minutes left in the session.

Valtteri Bottas:
Valtteri would be first out for Williams running on the medium tyre for the first time. Valtteri would continue for a second lap but would pit prior to setting a time. Valtteri would return to the track with just under forty minutes remaining. He was out on the supersoft tyre for this run. Valtteri would set a slow 1m:56.599 but was on a quicker lap. Valtteri would move up to fifth with a 1m:38.645. With Felipe going fourth Valtteri would drop to sixth. Valtteri would follow Felipe's lead pitting but returning to the track. Valtteri would return to the track running on new supersoft tyres. Valtteri would jump into third with a 1m:38.345 but would drop to fourth courtesy of his team-mate. Valtteri would improve with a 1m:37.985 but remained in fourth. Having dropped to sixth Valtteri would pit briefly. He would come back in having completed seven laps.

 
Massa
 

Pos  Driver         	Team		        Time     Laps
1  Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes		1m36.403s  17
2  Nico Rosberg		Mercedes		1m36.471s  22
3  Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari			1m37.007s  28
4  Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari			1m37.727s  14
5  Felipe Massa		Williams-Mercedes	1m37.918s  16
6  Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1m37.985s  16
7  Max Verstappen	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1m38.133s  22
8  Jenson Button	McLaren-Honda		1m38.260s  14
9  Carlos Sainz		Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1m38.465s  25
10 Sergio Perez	Force 	India-Mercedes		1m38.542s  18
11 Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1m38.622s  23
12 Fernando Alonso	McLaren-Honda		1m38.633s  12
13 Daniil Kvyat		Red Bull-TAG Heuer	1m39.047s  15
14 Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1m39.162s  16
15 Esteban Gutierrez	Haas-Ferrari		1m39.230s  18
16 Kevin Magnussen	Renault			1m39.238s  16
17 Romain Grosjean	Haas-Ferrari		1m39.239s  15
18 Jolyon Palmer	Renault			1m39.589s  19
19 Rio Haryanto		Manor-Mercedes		1m39.599s  19
20 Pascal Wehrlein	Manor-Mercedes		1m39.663s  18
21 Marcus Ericsson	Sauber-Ferrari		1m39.740s  23
22 Felipe Nasr		Sauber-Ferrari		1m39.898s  19
 
Bottas
 

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Russian GP: 5th & 6th for Williams Martini in FP3
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 30/04/2016 11:18
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