Bottas qualifies third and Massa fifth for tomorrow’s Japanese GP
Valtteri Bottas: "We have limited data on tyre wear due to the conditions yesterday, but starting third we need to target the podium tomorrow."
Neither Williams driver had a chance to improve on their final runs in Q3 as the session was red flagged following an accident for Kvyat.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: "The important point to make first is that Kvyat is ok, after what was a big accident. Without the red flag we could have taken third and fourth, and that was our target coming into the session. It was a great team effort throughout the whole day and we have a competitive car. The longer runs look good and we have to convert qualifying into a strong points score over our competitors tomorrow."
Valtteri Bottas: "I’m really happy to be third again in Suzuka. It has been a good day. We made some changes after FP3 and those changes were exactly what we needed, so as a team we have really performed well. I feel comfortable with the car and around here that is very important. I enjoyed the session a lot. We have limited data on tyre wear due to the conditions yesterday, but starting third we need to target the podium tomorrow."
Felipe Massa: "It was a good qualifying where we managed to save a set of tyres for tomorrow. The car was competitive even if I didn’t get to show its full pace due to the red flag in Q3. After such a big accident it’s good to see Daniil jump out of the car. We have a long race tomorrow which we are looking forward to and I believe we can deliver a strong performance."
Williams Martini Racing
Share Or Save This Story
On this day: Michael Schumacher wins… and stuns tifosi with F1 retirement
Defendant ordered to pay £250,000 legal fees in Felipe Massa F1 title case
Felipe Massa’s F1 2008 lawsuit will proceed to trial
What the drivers are expecting from F1's return to Sepang
How Carlos Sainz bounced back from the most difficult moment of his F1 career
How Fernando Alonso scored ninth at Zandvoort - and how Alex Albon lost a similar payday
Jorge Martin: “Even on one of my good days, it was impossible to beat Marc Marquez”
F1 championship standings after the Bahrain GP in Malaysia.
George Russell: “You’ve got to laugh” at bad luck as F1 title drifts away
Elfyn Evans suffers puncture ahead of Power Stage WRC title decider
You Ask The Questions: Emerson Fittipaldi
The wide world of strategy options expected in F1's Bahrain GP in Malaysia
How drivers waiting in the wings can still make their presence count in F1
What we learned from Friday practice at the 2026 Bahrain GP in Malaysia
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments