- First Barcelona Test - Day Three
Williams uses cool weather to practice pit stops
Williams used the cooler conditions in Barcelona on Saturday to focus primarily on pit stop practice ahead of the new season.
Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas drove for the team either side of lunch and both spent a long time coming in and out of the pit lane, with the latter completing 48 laps but not setting an official time until four minutes from the chequered flag. Williams had originally planned such a schedule on Sunday but brought that forward due to the cooler weather at the track.
When asked what he had been working on, Bottas laughed and said: "Pit stops!"
He was then asked whether pit lane starts had been involved in the schedule and replied: "Not really starts today, no. Maybe tomorrow a bit more and next week. Pit stops was the main thing today, originally we planned to do that on Sunday but we changed the schedule because Sunday is going to be a nicer day for testing and we'll have more to achieve with set-up and stuff than today."
Bottas hopes the day of testing will set the team in good stead come the opener in Australia.
"It was difficult to get a feel for the car on the rest of the lap as I was on old tyres and my only proper run was when the track was very cold at the end of the day. It was good for the team to practice the pit stop procedure, but also for me to practice too. Australia is just a few weeks away and we need to be ready for all elements of the race. Every stop is important and it's good to be well prepared."
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