- US GP - Qualifying
Bottas wary of pace of those behind Williams
Valtteri Bottas does not think it will be easy for Williams to convert its second-row lockout into a podium at the United States Grand Prix.
Bottas led the charge behind Mercedes in qualifying, finishing three tenths up on team-mate Felipe Massa. But Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso line up on the third row, with the McLarens locking out the row behind that, something Bottas thinks Williams will need to be wary of on Sunday.
"It should be an interesting race, especially as the guys behind us will be really quick," Bottas said. "It will be an important race for us to get good points, but it's not going to be easy. It was a pretty good qualifying again, and I'm really pleased with the couple of good laps I got in Q3, but it's been a difficult weekend from my side for some reason. [I struggled] to get a good rhythm and then finally trust the car like you should, so I'm really happy for us as a team."
Bottas missed FP1 on Friday, with reserve driver Felipe Nasr stepping in to get some track experience, and the Finn struggled to match Massa's pace when he returned to the car. But Bottas says he grew in confidence as qualifying went on.
"I managed to improve a lot from practice, and really got a good set-up on the car ahead of qualifying. I could really trust the car and get the lines right, get every corner right. I knew that Q3 is the one that was going to matter and I needed to get everything right and be on the limit then. I tried to squeeze everything that there was."
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