Posted on 17th December 2014
The 2014 season has saw the Williams team move up six places from ninth to third place in the Constructors Championship behind their rivals Red Bull and Mercedes.
After a disastrous 2013 season only scoring five championship points, Williams went into the 2014 season hoping for better. This season welcomed major changes to the technical regulations which would inevitably change the grid's running order. For 2014, Williams switched to the Mercedes power unit after being supplied by Renault for the previous two seasons.
Williams retained Valtteri Bottas for 2014 after impressing in his rookie season, his best performance qualifying third at the 2013 Canadian Grand Prix.
Former driver Pastor Maldonado left the team for Lotus allowing 11-time race winner Felipe Massa to join Williams for 2014. After eight seasons with Ferrari, Massa was replaced by Kimi Raikkonen this season.
It was clear from the first test in Jerez that Williams had made significant steps over the winter and looked to be the nearest challenger to the Mercedes who were clearly the quickest team on the grid. Despite having a quick car, the team failed to capitalise on their performance advantage.
A wet qualifying in Australia highlighted the flaws of the FW36 as Massa qualified in ninth place and Bottas in tenth place. The race however would be more successful for one side of the garage with Bottas coming home in fifth place after clipping the wall and causing a puncture on the right rear tyre on lap eleven. On the other hand, Massa was taken out by Kamui Kobyashi on the opening lap.
In the next race in Malaysia, both cars failed to make it into the final part of qualifying. Williams came under scrutiny at this race as they asked Felipe Massa to move over for Bottas who had been marginally quicker as the Brazilian was unable to pass Button in sixth place. Massa ignored the team order and came home in seventh place ahead of Bottas in eighth place. The team ultimately had a disappointing weekend despite having a quick car in dry conditions.
In Bahrain, Massa was running in third place for the majority of the race fighting off the Force India's of Perez and Hulkenburg, however a late safety-car and excessive tyre wear meant the Brazilian lost several positions and finished in seventh with Bottas having similar issues to come home behind him in eighth.
Williams had a strong qualifying in Shanghai despite it being wet as Massa qualified sixth. A slow-stop for Massa in the race and slow race pace from Bottas meant the team failed to pick up any major points.
There was no reason to celebrate in the next two races at Spain and Monaco as the team only scored sixteen points in these two races.
In Canada, Williams were back on form as they qualified fourth and fifth behind the two Mercedes and Sebastian Vettel. Massa had an opportunity to win the race however but was stuck behind teammate Bottas for several laps. Massa caught up to the back of Vettel but struggled to pass eventually costing the Brazilian a chance of winning.
On the final lap of the race, in an overtaking attempt Massa's front right tyre collided with the back of Perez's car which caused them both to crash into the barriers at high speed. The stewards deemed it to be Perez's fault and consequently the Mexican received a five-place grid penalty for the Austrian Grand Prix.
At the Austrian Grand Prix, Williams locked-out the front row in qualifying and finished third and fourth in the race. This was followed by two more podiums at Silverstone and Hockenheim courtesy of Bottas who continued to impress in his second season in Formula One.
On the other hand, Massa had the speed, but was continually involved in incidents with other drivers. At Silverstone, Raikkonen re-joined the track in an unsafe manner collecting Massa in the process and at Germany, Massa turned in on Magnussen on the opening lap forcing the Brazilian to retire and in Hungary, Massa and Bottas scored some good points before heading into the summer break.
After the summer break, Williams continued to push hard to fight Ferrari for third in the Constructors Championship. In Belgium, it was a mixed race for Williams with Bottas securing yet another podium finish in third place whereas Massa finished in thirteenth place.
In the next two races in Italy and Singapore, Williams extracted the best possible results that they could with a third and fourth place finish in Italy and a fifth and eleventh place finish in Singapore. At this stage of the season, it was announced by the Williams team that Bottas and Massa were to be retained next season and rightly so after their performances so far this year.
In Japan And Russia, Williams appeared to struggle getting pace out of the car but still managed to finish in sixth and seventh places in Japan and third and eleventh places in Russia, thereby consistently bringing home the points where Ferrari were struggling to do so.
In the final three races of the season, Williams showed just how consistent and reliable their car really is. In Austin, they finished in fourth and fifth which is the best they could have achieved that weekend in my opinion. With a podium for Massa at his home race in Brazil and a double podium for the team at the final race in Abu Dhabi, this only highlighted just how far Williams have come this season compared to 2013 and they deserved everything they have achieved this season.
Even though many pundits and fans have argued that Williams in selected races of the year such as Australia and Austria for example did not have the chances to perform even better than they did, they still were able to take the fight to Ferrari and finish third in the Constructors Championship this season and if they carry on in the direction that they have this year, anything could be possible for the Williams team, Massa and Bottas for 2015.
Valtteri Bottas – 161 points / 6th in the Driver's championship
Valtteri Bottas this season has been hailed by many pundits and fans as a potential world champion of the future and it's hard not to see why in my opinion.
The 24-year old Finn has impressed throughout this season. Not only he has the raw pace, he has the ability to overtake and defend under pressure which has been demonstrated on numerous occasions this season.
The Williams is arguably the third fastest car in Formula One behind the Mercedes and Red Bull (in terms of aerodynamics and downforce) and Bottas is making the most of these opportunities.
The 2014 season saw Bottas outperform his team mate Felipe Massa in the Drivers Championship by 106 points which was a bit of a shock given that Massa should have beaten him on the track. He has quite comfortably managed to beat Massa in qualifying this season by 13 times to 3 times, Massa has finished more races and laps than Bottas which is no huge surprise.
At the opening few races of the season, Bottas gained two fifth places in Australia and Spain, two eighth places in Malaysia and Bahrain and a seventh place in China. Bottas retired in Monaco with a power unit failure but he bounced back before the summer break with a seventh place finish in Canada, three consecutive podium finishes in Austria, Britain and Germany and an eighth place finish in Hungary.
These results during the first half of the season saw Bottas being fifty-five points more than his teammate and as a result other teams such as McLaren were interested into exploring the possibility of signing him up for 2015.
After the summer break, Bottas had a mixed bag of results but still continued to impress on the track which saw him in the latter stages of the season being retained by Williams for 2015. Bottas got his second half of the season off to a good start with a podium in Belgium, a fourth place finish in Italy, just out of the points in eleventh place in Singapore and a sixth place finish in Japan.
In the last four races of the season, Bottas achieved yet another podium finish in Sochi, a fifth place finish in Austin, a tenth place finish in Brazil and his final podium of the year at the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi confirmed that this season Bottas has come of age and if Williams can provide him the car once again, his first win in the sport could be achieved next season if the opportunity arises.
Felipe Massa – 55 points / 12th in the Driver's Championship
The 2014 season has saw Massa being outperformed by his team mate Valtteri Bottas in the Drivers Championship by 106 points which was a bit of a shock given that Massa should have beaten him on the track due to him being more experienced in the sport.
Even though Bottas has quite comfortably managed to beat Massa in qualifying this season by 13 times to 3 times, Massa has finished more races and laps than Bottas which is no huge surprise and given the fact that Williams had the third fastest car in Formula One behind the Mercedes and Red Bull (in terms of aerodynamics and downforce), Massa did not make the best of the opportunity until the second half of the season in my opinion.
At the opening few races of the season, Massa has been very unlucky with first-lap collisions and team errors. Massa was taken out by Kamui Kobayashi in Melbourne, a collision with Perez in Canada cost Massa a fourth placed finish whilst collisions with Raikkonen at Silverstone and Magnussen at Hockenheim cost the team further points.
But despite these collisions and errors, Massa in the first part of the season did manage to achieve point finishes for the Williams team. He finished ahead of his team mate in Malaysia with a seventh place finish even if the Williams team asked Massa to let Bottas pass, Massa ignored the order.
After two disappointing races in China and Spain, Massa finished seventh in Monaco and fourth in Austria. Before the end of the summer break, Massa finished ahead of his team mate in Hungary with a fifth place finish and found himself fifty-five points behind Bottas and with a lot of work to do to beat Bottas in the Championship.
In the second half of the season, Massa did improve his performances on the track and did manage to challenge and sometimes even beat Bottas out on track. Massa didn't get off to the best start in Belgium with a thirteenth place finish but in the next race in Italy, he achieved his first podium finish of the year.
In Singapore, Japan and Russia, Massa finished in fifth, seventh and eleventh places but still managed to bring home points for himself and the Williams team when he could. In the last three races of the season, Massa finished ahead of Bottas in Austin and in his home race in Brazil where Massa finished in fourth and on the podium (Brazil springs to mind especially as in Massa's own words he had to 'drive like a grandmother' to bring the car home to the finish).
Massa finished the 2014 season on the podium in Abu Dhabi and in a season where he was expected to finish ahead of his team mate, Massa has missed opportunities through no fault of his own to show that he still has what it takes to achieve success in Formula One. But when he has the car underneath him, Massa can deliver just as well as any other driver on the grid and he needs to ensure that he does this as often as possible going into the 2015 season.
In conclusion, the Williams team have had an incredible season given where they finished in 2013. It is clear that all the steps that Williams have undertaken in the past year or so alongside delivering a consistent, reliable and competitive car with a strong driver line up of Massa and Bottas, Williams deserve everything they have achieved this season.
Even though you could argue that Williams as a team and also especially Massa has not taken the opportunities they should have to claim their first win since the 2012 Spanish Grand Prix with their former driver Pastor Maldonado, the potential for them to improve and achieve a win in the sport is looking ever more bright for them.
This season we have seen the emergence of Bottas who is a young, talented and gifted driver consistently able to bring the car home in the points and I do believe that we could see him winning his first race in the sport next season if the chance presents itself.
Meanwhile, we have seen that Massa can also bring the car consistently home especially in the second half of the season but he needs to ensure that he does this regularly in 2015 and show that he still has what it takes to achieve success in the sport. I do believe that if Massa gets everything right in a weekend, he is capable of achieving just as much as Bottas.
Heading into 2015, Williams have a solid foundation under their belt to develop the car even further and build upon what they have achieved this season. With Bottas and Massa remaining with the team for next season, I believe that both drivers have the potential to succeed on the track and both could win a Grand Prix; provided that everything comes together for them and I really hope that is the case and we see Williams winning a race or two in 2015; they deserve it without a shadow of a doubt.
Sarah Jones
