F1: Williams drivers explain minimal track time

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Valtteri Bottas says the Williams team saw no reason to spend much time on track during Formula 1 practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix on Friday.

The Finn, who missed first practice as he was replaced by third driver Felipe Nasr, completed just nine laps in the evening session. Teammate Felipe Massa had just 13 laps after running only 11 in the afternoon.

Bottas said the only reason for the lack of running was that Williams had plenty of data from pre-season testing in Bahrain, which was held in similar conditions.

"For me, quite a short day but it is what it is. We got a couple of good runs in the end," said Bottas, 11th quickest in the second session. "We were waiting for the track to improve. We've done so much testing here, we've got a lot of data so it's just fine-tuning the car setup.

"Actually the conditions were quite similar in the evening time here so we didn't really see the point to put mileage for nothing. We are quite confident with the car setup; it's already pretty much there. We just need to fine-tune."

The Williams driver is still upbeat about his prospects for tomorrow's qualifying, and feels a position on the first three rows of the grid is possible.

"I really think tomorrow we should aim to be top six in qualifying. It is possible if we get everything right," he said.

Massa, fifth fastest in the evening session, echoed his teammate's thoughts about not needing extra mileage.

"We ran at the end but I think it was OK," he said. "It was a good understanding of where we are.

"I think the car shows a little bit better pace here compared to Malaysia. I hope this is something we can see tomorrow."

Originally on Autosport.com