Valtteri Bottas claims he “really struggled” with Pirelli’s white walled option tyres after the Williams racer finished a quiet 12th in the second free practice for the British Grand Prix.
Having to sit out of the morning session while test driver Susie Wolff made her second FP1 appearance in 2015, Bottas then took over from the Scot to rack up 33 laps but finished over 2secs off Nico Rosberg’s table-topping time.
Although he is pleased with the FW37’s performance on the harder compound, the Finn admits Williams needs to unlock more pace out of Pirelli's softer rubber.
“I felt like I really struggled with the tyres overheating on one lap,” said Bottas. “The first sector felt pretty good but then I really struggled especially in the last sector.
“We struggled more than expected, but I think there is a lot more to come if we can get the tyres to better temperature with the options here.
“With the hard tyre on the long runs it was very consistent, as I expected. It shouldn’t give us too many problems in the race.”
Despite his limited running and low-key showing on Friday, Bottas, who finished on the podium at Silverstone 12 months ago, remains bullish about Williams’ prospects on its home event.
“I reckon tomorrow we will be somewhere in the top five I would think. We need to work to get more performance out of the option, but if we can fix that it will be a lot better.
“After missing the first practice, it always takes a bit of time in FP2 so it felt like FP1 to me, getting used to everything, the conditions, but it didn’t feel too bad.
“If you missed the first session, it just means the second and third practice will be very important. At least we got some good laps and we have an idea of what we need to do with the car for tomorrow.”
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