Race - Austrian GP report: Williams Mercedes

— Felipe Massa finished third and Valtteri Bottas fifth in today’s Austrian Grand Prix.
— After an early safety car, Valtteri and Felipe were running fourth and sixth respectively, before pitting for their one and only stops of the race.
— After Valtteri’s pitstop he had to re-pass Hulkenberg to claim fifth, while Felipe capitalised on an error in the Ferrari pitstop and overtook Vettel.
— In the closing stages of the race Felipe held off heavy pressure from Vettel to claim his first podium of the season.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering

Third and fifth is a good result for the team. We wanted to get a podium today and so made the most of the opportunities we were given and we weren’t going to let it go once we had it. We have kept quicker cars behind us on three occasions already this season which shows the great race craft the drivers have. Felipe did a great job under such pressure and Valtteri had a strong race with some very solid overtaking manoeuvres.

Felipe Massa

I am delighted with the result, the team did a great job and it was a fantastic race. We made the most of the slower Ferrari pitstop and took all the opportunities that came to us to achieve my first podium of the year. The team were pushing me a lot throughout the final stages of the race and I was doing my best to keep Vettel behind. I knew it was not the time to make mistakes and it was amazing to bring it home.

Valtteri Bottas

It is a good result for the team. I was hoping for a bit more from the race personally. I enjoyed the overtaking that I made, it was just a shame it wasn’t further up. Midway through the race I had a brake issue which I had to manage a bit. We have closed the gap to the team in front in the constructor’s championship which is a good feeling. Well done to Felipe on a great result to get on the podium.