Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsWilliams

Williams ‘in the fight’ with Mercedes, Ferrari

Felipe Massa says Williams is “in the fight” with Mercedes and Ferrari in the Austrian Grand Prix if Friday’s long run pace is accurate.

Both Williams drivers showed strong race pace on high fuel during Friday practice, with Ferrari also closely matching the times set by Mercedes. While teams run different fuel loads and sometimes hide their pace, Massa is confident after qualifying in fourth place and when asked if the car is quick enough to battle those ahead he replied: “I hope so!

“At least the long run I did yesterday was very good, it was very consistent, very good for the tyres and everything so for sure if we have that tomorrow we will be there in the fight.

“If what we showed yesterday on the long run is correct then we’re there in the fight.”

And Massa says Williams is better prepared to capitalise on any opportunities that come its way in tomorrow’s race having failed to convert a one-two in qualifying last year in to victory.

“Last year I think it was the first race we were fighting for the podium, so I think everything was a little bit green last year. Now we are more experienced, the people are better, the way we are working is better, for sure. So it can be better this year.”

Click here for the gallery of the Formula Una girls at the Austrian Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.