Qualifying - Italian GP report: Williams Mercedes

— Felipe qualified fifth and Valtteri sixth for tomorrow’s Italian Grand Prix.
— Despite Felipe improving on his second run in Q3, Rosberg jumped ahead in the final moments.
— Williams locks out the third row of the grid for tomorrow’s race, half a second clear of the chasing pack.

Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering

From a championship point of view I am happy with the result. We stressed to the team that we needed to get Qualifying perfect today, and they have all done a great job to make sure we were competing for the front rows whilst keeping clear of the rest of the field. The cars have been set-up well for qualifying and the race. We will not give up tomorrow in the fight for the podium and can really help our championship with a strong result.

Valtteri Bottas

It wasn’t a perfect qualifying as I didn’t get a great slipstream in the final lap. I think fifth and sixth was the maximum as the Ferraris were just a bit out reach. Tomorrow is a new day and we will certainly do everything we can to challenge them. The race pace looks strong so I am after a good result.

Felipe Massa

Ferrari were maybe a little bit too quick today, and even with a perfect lap it would have been difficult to match them. I’m still happy with our performance and where we are. Power is very important on this circuit so we may be able to fight with Nico (Rosberg) but it is a long race. I have my sights on the podium but most importantly we must have a good race, scores some valuable points and make sure we make no mistakes.