- US GP - FP2
Williams: Mercedes in a league of its own
Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa expect Mercedes to be the sole candidate for pole position at the United States Grand Prix, though both expect an overnight improvement from Williams.
Williams usually holds back its true potential in Friday practice, focusing instead on race set-up and longer runs, though Massa rose to fifth in the qualifying simulation runs on the soft tyre in FP2. Felipe Nasr, who stepped in for Bottas in FP1, also broke into the top eight in the morning session but Williams failed to get close to Mercedes out in front.
Bottas expects Williams to be closer to the front on Saturday but thinks it will be fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull behind the dominant Mercedes pairing.
"Friday is not for setting the quickest lap time you can, it's about trying to improve as much as you can for qualifying and the race," said Bottas, who finished 11th in FP2 after missing the morning session. "Everything went into the plan really today. We were just gaining information about the car; the temperatures, the tyres, everything.
"It seems like [Mercedes] are really strong and for them it's a stronger place than, for example, Russia, compared to us at least. At the moment they are in their own league so we need to focus this week on fighting with Red Bull and Ferrari. I still think we have a good chance [of improving]. It's only Friday today and its tomorrow that counts for qualifying. We usually improve on Saturday and I'm sure I can also improve myself."
Massa agrees with his team-mate's outlook but thinks Williams can be encouraged from what it achieved on Friday.
"I think something needs to happen to the Mercedes drivers for us to get pole," he said. "We will see on Sunday and tomorrow. [Ferrari] are always very quick on Friday so I hope we can pick up the pace, we will try everything we can.
"I think the car was good, I had a good feeling from the car in the morning. It was not so easy in the afternoon because the wind increased a lot. It was a little bit difficult to understand the balance as the car was a little more difficult to drive in the afternoon. But I'm happy, I think the car was there. The wind should change completely from today to tomorrow and Sunday so that shouldn't be a big problem."
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