WorldMags.net
Williams
Bottas is a potential star
if he works on consistency
“I expect a good season from Williams,
but it’s hard to predict anything better
than a repeat of last year”
Williams-Mercedes FW37
W
54 AUTOSPORT.COM MARCH 5 2015
FELIPE MASSA
19
33
Age:
Starts:
210
First GP:
Australia 2002
Wins:
11
Poles:
16
Fastest laps:
15
2014 position:
7th
VALTTERI BOTTAS
77
Age:
25
Starts:
38
First GP:
Australia 2013
Best finish:
2nd
Best qualifying position: 2nd
Fastest laps:
1
2014 position:
4th
Felipe is one of those drivers who
needs to be in the right environment to
get the best out of himself. He’s very
happy at Williams compared to how
he was during the final years at Ferrari,
so that’s encouraging. He will have his
ups and downs, because he always
has done, but on his day there could
be some big results.
I’m a big fan of Bottas, who could
be one of the stars of this year. He’s
a very hard driver and I expect his
consistency to be improved. There
were times last year when he was
a bit erratic and fell away more than
he should have done. He will have
worked on that and he certainly has
the ability to nail it lap after lap.
Symonds (l) and Smedley
run a tight ship at Williams
WorldMags.net
XPB IMAGES
hat Williams achieved last year
by jumping from ninth in the
championship to third and being
the closest challenger to Mercedes
more often than not was
remarkable. The question now is
whether the team can repeat that
championship performance or
perhaps go further. Based on pre-season testing,
that’s a difficult thing to get a handle on.
The reason for this is that I don’t see evidence
of the kind of step forward that will allow
Williams to compete with Mercedes, rather
than being a little behind. The car is a good
step forward, but there are no dramatic changes.
The FW36 had a strong front end last year,
and the drivers have been very happy with the
improvements in overall stability, so that’s
encouraging, but I’m not sure that’s going to
be enough to make a massive difference.
But considering how up and down things have
been for Williams in recent years, if it can stay in
that kind of position it wouldn’t necessarily be
a bad thing. A lot has changed there, with Pat
Symonds doing a great job as chief technical
officer and Rob Smedley whipping the race team
into shape, so the most important thing is for
Williams to establish itself as consistently able to
get podiums and finish well up in the title fight.
Williams’s biggest problem is that it’s still only
a customer squad. You’d expect the four ‘works’
teams – Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren
– to be ahead, provided the engines are strong
enough. How many of those can Williams beat?
I expect a good season from Williams, but
it’s hard to predict anything better than a
repeat of last year.
DUNBAR/LAT
SEASON
54
PREVIEW
Starts: 617
First GP: Argentina 1978
Wins: 114
Poles: 128
Fastest laps: 133
2014 championship position: 3rd
XPB IMAGES
G A RY A N D E R S O N ' S
TEAM BY TEAM
FW37 features small
tweaks, but enough?