Mixed day for Williams

Williams were expecting a tough weekend going into the Singapore Grand Prix. The high downforce and low speed nature of the track did not suit the car’s characteristics, but an upgrade package saw them on reasonably competitive pace. Valtteri Bottas managed to score a 5th place finish.

“Being 5th in the most difficult circuit of the season is not bad,” he said, “Especially the pit stops we have managed to improve, all the pit stops were very good. The guys did a good job, and we just did to carry on like this.”

However, Felipe Massa did not have such a smooth race. He collided with Nico Hulkenberg as he exited the pit lane at turn 3.

“I was going out of corner 1 through the pit lane,” Massa explained, “and I was on the inside so I braked inside, [Hulkenberg] braked on the outside, but he just turned like if I was not there, then he hit me.

“Even if he stayed on the right and left me the space, it could have been possible to go out on the right and even get the traction on the outside and overtake me at the next corner on the right. For sure, it was his mistake.”

The Brazilian suffered further issues during the race. A gearbox failure kept putting him in neutral, and it was not a problem that could be solved on the track and so he was forced to retire.

“It was changing gears, it happened the first time after corner 13. I was changing gear, 1st, 2nd, and I went I went for 3rd it went to neutral. So then I thought maybe I pressed something wrong on the steering wheel, but I’m sure I didn’t. And then I go to 1st gear, I couldn’t go out [of 1st] again, it was ok maybe doing one or two laps, and then it happens again. And then it starts to happen maybe two, three times a lap so it was impossible to carry on.

“Maybe it’s a problem with the gear, or maybe something else which I have no idea. So we need to investigate.”

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