29/03/2014
NEWS STORY
A weekend that promised so much for Williams has thus far delivered very little. Touted as potential podium contenders the Grove squad struggled during qualifying, Felipe Massa its best placed driver in thirteenth.
Neither Massa nor teammate Valtteri Bottas were able to progress beyond the second phase of qualifying, Bottas in particular spending long periods on the intermediate tyre as others opted for full wets. The Finn, who was only capable of fifteenth, received further bad news following the session when stewards handed him a three-place penalty for impeding Daniel Ricciardo.
The incident occurred as the clock began ticking down to the end of Q2. With Ricciardo closing in to start a flying lap Bottas moved left as he exited the final corner, forcing the Red Bull driver to back off. Though the Australian had already set a time which would comfortably take him through to the final session he was not shy in voicing his displeasure over the radio.
After reviewing the incident the stewards decided Bottas "did not pay attention to the approaching car and continued to impede car 3 (Ricciardo) through Turns 14 and 15" - a breach of Article 31.7 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
Consequently the Finn was demoted to eighteenth on the grid for tomorrow's race and achieved the dubious honour of becoming the first driver to accrue penalty points (2) on his licence.
For a weekend that promised so much the fact neither car is in the top ten will be a bitter pill for the Williams team to swallow.
Check out our Saturday gallery, here.
Mat Coch