Valtteri Bottas is hoping that both Williams cars finish in the top five during tomorrow’s 71-lap Austrian Grand Prix, despite struggling with tyre warm-up issues during Q3 in qualifying.
Historically the Red Bull Ring has been a happy hunting ground for Williams in recent years, with Felipe Massa and Bottas securing a front-row lock-out during the venue’s return to the calendar in 2014.
However a repeat of such successes was not forthcoming during qualifying for this year’s event, with the inclement weather conditions which materialised for Q3 hindering the team’s progress.
Initially Massa was one of the first drivers to opt for dry tyres in the drying conditions, rising up to provisional pole position at one stage, before dropping like a stone and ending qualifying in tenth position.
Team-mate Bottas qualified eighth, however he too struggled immensely with tyre warm-up issues in particular.
“Qualifying was a special case today with the conditions in Q3,” explained Bottas after qualifying.
“Everything was looking good in Q1 and Q2 in the dry, but tyre warm-up was difficult in the mixed conditions.
“In the beginning we struggled with the intermediate tyres, and once we got onto the slicks the main problem was to try to get heat into the tyres.
“I think in any conditions we need to try to aim to have both cars in the top five, that’s a good target for us tomorrow.”
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