- Austrian GP - Race
Timing of maiden podium perfect for Bottas
Valtteri Bottas says his maiden podium in Austria was 'exactly what Williams needed' after finally living up to its pre-season potential at the Red Bull Ring.
After his best career qualifying performance on Saturday saw him start second on the grid, Bottas got the jump on team-mate Felipe Massa at the first pit stop to earn Williams its first podium since 2012. The team has had a frustrating time this year after several missed opportunities for big points, something Bottas believes makes the timing of his podium all the more special.
"I'm really really happy, it's difficult to put in the words really," Bottas said. "I'm thankful to the team for giving me this car, it's been a long way for us since last year and many, many years at Williams, now it's so much better. The race was exactly what we needed at this point, clean, nice, everything went like planned really.
"The car was good for the podium this time and I'm just so happy. Overall it's my best ever weekend, so very happy. As a team we were really strong for the whole weekend which is down to a lot of hard work."
Bottas came home ahead of Massa in fourth and, though Williams did not have the pace to challenge Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton over a race distance, Bottas thinks the result shows the team is hot on the heels of the factory Mercedes team.
"It was a good track for us and you never know what's going to happen in the next race but overall we are making progress step by step, we are getting to the positions we would like to be. So I am really happy. It was nice to have a good, clean race for the team. We've had some issues lately and not been maximising the car we have but I think today we showed what we can do."
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
