2017 regulations good for Williams - Bottas

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Valtteri Bottas believes Williams should welcome a new set of regulations which will be introduced in 2017.

New regulations will deliver faster cars as a result of revised aerodynamics and improved mechanical grip through wider tyres. Williams has enjoyed an upturn in form since the current regulations were introduced in 2014, finishing third in the constructors' championship in each of the past two seasons, but Bottas told F1i a new set of rules allows the team the chance to make further progress.

“If there is rule changes it’s always an opportunity for things to change," Bottas said. "So it’s very difficult to say, but I would see the rule changes as a good thing for Williams because now with these kind of rules it has levelled out and we for sure haven’t made any progress year-by-year.

"So it is a good thing for this team. Of course big manufacturer teams have an advantage with the budget, with the amount of people they have.”

And when asked if Williams is in a better position now to take advantage of a new set of regulations than it was ahead of 2014, Bottas replied: “Definitely.

"Yeah, I think also 2014 proved that we can be doing good things with the rule changes so I’m sure this team - like I said already last year and the year before - can be better than this. But it is extremely competitive at this point and it’s tricky, but we’re trying.”

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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.