Racer - Winter 2014

FORMULA 1 2014

lap – he describes as his biggest disappointment of the season.

“It had been a really tough race for us,
but I was in a reasonable position, picking
up some points in the most difficult race
of the rest of the season. I thought I could
just handle it until the end, but it was one
or two laps too much. When one car comes
past, everyone comes past, because you
go a bit off line on worn tires, you spin the
really managed to put the right people in
the right positions, and get some new
people, too. It’s a large team, 500 people
in total, but Pat has a clear view of the big
picture, and so he knows exactly how
they need to operate, and who is best in
which kind of role. Getting him in last year
was really crucial for us because,
honestly, we were a bit lost.”
The team might have made huge leaps
from last year to this, but so has Bottas.
It’s natural that a driver makes a step in
his second season, but in his case the
learning process has been accelerated by
the fact that he’s suddenly found himself
fighting for podium positions with the
biggest names in the sport. The stakes
are that much higher than at the back of
the field, but so are the rewards.

“It is a totally different thing,” he says. “You just need to choose your moves more carefully – passing moves, defending, everything – because the competition is just on a better level at the front. Also, at the front, everyone is much closer and every single mistake is going to cost more.

“But I’ve enjoyed it much more. Fighting at the front is where I feel I belong.”

The mercurial presence of Valtteri Bottas at Williams was perfectly balanced by the arrival of veteran Felipe Massa.

Having been ousted from Ferrari after the team opted to go with Kimi Raikkonen, Massa has been reborn at Williams. His settling in period was helped by the fact he was joined by his long-time Ferrari engineer and friend Rob Smedley, who’s charged with improving the team’s race operations.

Massa often lost out to his team mate in qualifying, although he did take pole in Austria, but he’s been strong in the races. Earlier in the year he exited three races in first-lap accidents and lost a good result in Montreal after a clash with Sergio Perez, but third in Italy and Brazil, and a superb, close second in Abu Dhabi culminated in seventh in the final points standings.

That’s three places behind Bottas, but Massa insists he’s not bothered.

“It’s very nice to work with Valtteri,” he says. “He’s very fair, very clever, very professional and bloody quick!

But the first thing I thought was to do the best for the team, which is to have both cars at the front. I’m not fighting for the championship, so I don’t care about my position at the end.

“So everything I know, everything I understand, I pass to Valtteri. It’s not the time to lie or keep secrets; it’s the time to be united, and the time to do a great job together. So that’s what I’m trying to do with him, but also with all the engineers, with everybody who is working with the team.”

Felipe Massa brings more than a decade of F1 experience to Williams. The 33-year-old Brazilian is an 11-time GP winner with Ferrari.

MAssA’s REsURREc TION

FeliPe’s s Tar rises aGain
spirited driving like
this (aBOVe) saw
Bottas outqualify
Massa 13-6 over the
course of the season.

Valtteri (leFT), along with a revamped tech team, points to a new dawn for Williams.

valtteri bottas
“since Pat [symonds]
arrived, a lot of things have
moved in the right direction
and not by accident”

wheels a little bit, and that’s it.”
But Singapore, along with Monaco –
where he suffered a power-unit failure –
was an aberration. Bottas earned points
in every other grand prix, and at this
stage in his career is gaining valuable
lessons even from the incomplete races.

“Even in those two [Monaco and
Singapore] I think I managed to learn
something – something I can do better
It took a lot of hard work for Williams
to put all the right pieces together for
what appears to be the start of a revival.
Symonds, who won titles with Michael
Schumacher and Fernando Alonso at
Benetton and Renault, respectively, was
the talisman who tied it all together.