Indian GP: Williams F1 Qualifying Review
By Williams F1 Team
October 26 2013
| Williams Indian GP Qualifying Review |
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Qualifying Notes • Valtteri Bottas qualified 15th with Pastor Maldonado 18th for tomorrow’s Indian Grand Prix. • Both drivers’ completed their final runs in Q1 on the soft tyre, and whilst Valtteri made it through to Q2, Pastor was hindered by traffic. • Valtteri drove a clean lap in Q2, posting a time of 1:26.134 on the soft tyre to start the race in 15th. |
Pastor Maldonado:  "I
was faced with traffic twice on my first run in Q1 on the soft tyres,
once in the first corner and also again in Turn 10, which compromised my
qualifying as you only really have one chance to get a clean lap on the
soft tyres because the degradation is so high. I am usually able to
recover some positions in the race and the car is more competitive on
long runs so I’m confident we can move forward tomorrow. "
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Valtteri Bottas: "It
was very tight out there today. In Q1 we managed to make the most of the
car and the balance felt pretty good. In Q2 we were compromised a bit on
our final run as there was a big queue of cars on the out-lap and the
tyre temperatures were a little low at the beginning of my flying lap
which cost me some time. We could have gone a bit faster, but having
said that, the cars in front of us still have better raw pace so this
qualifying result is a fair reflection of where we are this weekend. We
will be working hard tonight to make further improvements to the set-up
so that we can challenge for a better position in the race."
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Xevi Pujolar, Chief Race
Engineer: "We
had to change our run plan in FP3 as the session was delayed and
shortened due to poor visibility, but the car balance was improving on
both tyres in line with the track conditions. We knew it would be
extremely tight in qualifying with getting the tyres in the correct
temperature window critical to getting a good lap. Unfortunately Pastor
was hampered by traffic on his first lap in Q1 and didn’t have enough
time to cool the tyres down ahead of his second flying lap which
compromised his time and left him 18th. It worked well for Valtteri in
Q1 as he had good track position for his second lap on option tyres and
made it through into Q2. In Q2 he came across traffic in sector 3 on his
out-lap so the tyres weren't up to temperature for the start of his
flying lap and he qualified 15th. The soft option tyre is especially
sensitive to blistering and graining with the medium being more robust.
So we expect to see a number of strategies in the race with team's
opting to run the soft tyres at different stages of the race, which will
open up more opportunities to gain positions."
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Buddh International Circuit New Delhi, India 5.125 kms / 3.184 miles |
Weather: Hot and dry | ||||
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POS |
DRIVER |
TEAM |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
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1 |
S Vettel | Red Bull | 1:25.943 | 1:24.568 | 1:24.119 |
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2 |
N Rosberg | Mercedes | 1:25.833 | 1:25.304 | 1:24.871 |
| 3 | L Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:25.802 | 1:25.259 | 1:24.941 |
| 15 |
V Bottas |
Williams F1 Team | 1: 26.178 (16th) | 1:26.134 | - |
| 18 |
P Maldonado FW35 02 RS27-5500/2 |
Williams F1 Team | 1:26.842 (18th) | - | - |
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