F1: Bottas to keep using new Williams front wing

Valtteri Bottas will continue to use the new-specification Williams front wing for the rest of the Hungarian Grand Prix Formula 1 weekend.

The Finn trialled the new wing, inspired by the same concept used by Mercedes and featuring pronounced arches on the outboard sections, during Friday's first free practice session. After back-to-back tests with the previous specification, the team decided to carry it forward on Bottas's car for the rest of the weekend.

While the 25-year-old admitted that the new design was only a small benefit, he's confident it will be worth continuing with.

"The step with the front wing is not easy to feel, it's small actually," said Bottas. "In practice one, I did my best laptime with the old front wing but I think that was because the lap with the old wing was a bit better than with the new one.

"When the difference is small it's not easy to get an answer, but everything suggests it's a small step in the right direction and I continued with the new wing in practice two without any problems."

Williams has only a single example of the new front wing in Hungary having pushed hard to produce it in time so its performance could be trialled with a view to both drivers using it at next month's Belgian Grand Prix. Only Bottas is running the wing in Hungary because he is the better-placed driver in the championship, with teammate Felipe Massa continuing to use the old-spec design.

While Bottas thinks it will only be a small step over the previous design, he suspects such a marginal gain could prove crucial in what is expected to be a very close qualifying session.

"I don't feel any negatives, so I'm quite comfortable keeping it and I don't think there's a risk," he said. "Maybe it was small gains, but everything is always welcome. At this track, in qualifying it's going to be about hundredths so everything helps."

Bottas was ninth fastest during the second free practice session, 1.9 seconds off pacesetter Lewis Hamilton's time, but he is confident the team will improve tomorrow.

Originally on Autosport.com