After a solid result for Felipe Massa at the Hungarian GP Williams are in perfect shape to go into the business end of the season very strongly. They now have Massa confident after finally finishing a race in Hungary and the new star Valtteri Bottas on top form despite a not so great eight place at the last race.
Williams Belgian GP Preview
It’s easy to forget that at this point of the season last year Williams had just one point, what a difference a year makes because they now sit fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship with 135 points, just seven points behind Ferrari. The Belgium GP is the perfect place to make up those points on Ferrari. It is a Mercedes circuit, and so despite fully expecting the Mercedes team(s) to dominate proceedings, throw some crazy weather in the mix, which is almost guaranteed at Spa and Williams could be right up there.
The weather could mean a mad race at Spa, but should it be normal I fully expect one of the Williams to be joining Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton on the podium. As it stands for the Drivers’ Championship Massa is 55 points behind teammate Bottas on 95, I do think the gap will close down as the second half of the season gets underway. I wouldn’t even count out Bottas overtaking Alonso in the Drivers’ Championship should he carry on the good form.
The race at Spa will be a Mercedes affair so Mercedes, Williams, Force India and McLaren can all expect to get some solid points and Red Bull and Ferrari are likely to struggle despite Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel in particular stepping up their game as the Belgium GP comes round.
Last year the Williams finished 15th and 17th of course they can expect to improve on that result this year due to their new engines, class drivers and now class engineering team. Rob Smedley joining the team was probably one of the best decisions they’ve made, not only did it mean that Massa settled in a lot better but also it meant that they have another smart brain on their team to help develop the car even further. Williams have every right to be optimistic for this race so here’s my prediction:
Massa 2nd and Bottas 4th – hoping for a mix up at the front rather than the usual Mercedes.
Looking on at the rest of the season, third is very realistic for them in the Constructors’ Championship; Ferrari need to step up massively if they think they can hold Williams back and second might just be out of their reach as long as Vettel has his usual second half of the season.
‘I think we all got bored of losing’ – Claire Williams
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Main Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images
