Felipe Massa feels that one of the longest straights on the F1 calendar will help Williams Racing at this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix. The team currently lay only sixth in the constructor’s table despite being very impressive in pre-season testing. After allowing their drivers to race in Bahrain, the team equaled the result that they scored in Malaysia, a seventh and an eighth; however, they will certainly be looking for better this weekend.
China has traditionally not been a happy hunting ground for Williams, a fifth place finish for Juan Pablo Montoya in the very first Chinese Grand Prix in 2004 being the best result at the Shanghai International Circuit. Last year, in the highly uncompetitive FW35, Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado finished in 13th and 14th respectively.
No. 19 Felipe Massa (BRA) – 11th
Form: 12/7/R/7/7 (includes races from 2013)
After his awesome start at Bahrain, Felipe Massa will be hoping to qualify better this time around. He showed us last year that he was able to keep up with Fernando Alonso on a Saturday, so he will surely be hoping to be right at the sharp end this weekend. Last year, Massa had an awful race, finishing sixth while his teammate Alonso won it. His best result here is 2nd in 2008, which was gifted to him after a team order was given to Kimi Raikkonen to let him through. He also finished 3rd in 2007 after Lewis Hamilton famously spun off while leading.
No. 77 Valtteri Bottas (FIN) – 8th
Form: 8/R/5/8/8 (includes races from 2013)
Only Bottas, Alonso and Hamilton have so far scored points in every race of the season. He had a poor race by his standards in Bahrain after an excellent qualifying. He will need to look after his tires much better this time around than what he did at Bahrain. China is a track known for being very punishing on tires. He also hopes to not be staring at his teammate’s gearbox this time, as he has done at the finish line for the last two races. He is yet to finish ahead of Massa this season, and he will need to pull one back sooner rather than later. The raw pace is definitely there though, there is no denying that.
Williams find themselves at the tail-end of what is shaping up to be an epic scrap for 2nd in the constructor’s standings between themselves, Force India, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari. The five teams are separated by just 14 points at this stage, and teams like Toro Rosso, Lotus and Sauber would love to join this scrap, or at least capitalize should the battle on track get too rough. We saw in Bahrain that these five teams were incredibly close in qualifying and in the race, with Ferrari gradually dropping back towards the end, and McLaren suffering clutch issues, costing the team points. It would be great to see a similar scrap at Shanghai, with that very long straight being a great opportunity to pass, although there are several other spots on the circuit.
Williams will also be hoping for a dry race. They have massively struggled in the rain so far, which is due to running the car too low to the ground and a lack of downforce. Hopefully the team will bring some much needed upgrades to the rear of the car for the Spanish Grand Prix, where many teams bring huge upgrades; otherwise, they could find themselves slipping back to the likes of Lotus and Toro Rosso on some circuits where horsepower is less significant, like Monaco or races held in wet conditions.
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