For the first time in over 20 years a woman is set to participate in a Formula One session. Susie Wolff will take over Valtteri Bottas’ car in Free Practice 1 this weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, her home race. Following the brilliant performance in Austria, Williams will be on a high, and will be hoping to deliver more good results in their home race.
The Grove-based team have had many victories at Silverstone, including their very first victory in 1979 with Clay Regazzoni, and a memorable one for Nigel Mansell in 1987. In total, Williams have ten victories at the British Grand Prix, the most recent being in 1997 with Jacques Villeneuve. All bar two of their British Grand Prix victories have come at Silverstone. Keke Rosberg even broke the 160mph average barrier in qualifying for the 1985 race here, a record which stood for many years.
No. 19 Felipe Massa (BRA) – 9th
Form: 15/13/7/12/4
2013 (Driving for Ferrari): Q: P11, R: P6
Silverstone has not really been a happy hunting ground for Massa, with no podium here in 11 attempts. Having been disappointed to miss out on a podium in Austria despite being on pole position, he will be hoping to put one over on his team mate this time round. He did, however, achieve his best result of the season last time out, as well as his first pole since 2008, which will be a boost to him. He now splits the two McLarens in the Championship standings, and is edging ever closer to the struggling Jenson Button just ahead of him.
No. 77 Valtteri Bottas (FIN) – 7th
Form: 7/5/R/7/3
2013: Q: P16, R: P12
Bottas said that his first podium in Formula One was ‘very important’. It’s not only important to him, but also to Williams and their new sponsor for this year, Martini. The podium finish moves him well ahead of both McLarens, his team mate, and Sergio Perez of Force India and towards the other Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, as six of the Mercedes-powered cars fight it out for sixth place in the standings.
Bottas had a relatively strong run at Silverstone last year, but narrowly missed out on the points. He will be hoping for another podium, but the characteristics of the car don’t really seem to suit Silverstone as such, though the two long straights will help.
No. 41 Susie Wolff (GBR)
Susie Wolff will drive in Free Practice 1 in both the British and German Grand Prix, as part of her role as development driver for the team. She is eyeing a race seat for 2015, so a strong showing in front of all the cameras will do her bid a lot of good.
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