Williams maximised result in Austria

Valtteri Bottas stood on a Formula One podium for the first time in his career in Austria.

The 24-year-old Finn enjoyed an excellent weekend for the Williams Mercedes team, qualifying on the front row of the grid alongside team-mate Felipe Massa before earning the teams best result since Pastor Maldonado’s shock victory in Spain 2012.

The 15 points earned from the podium finish lifts Bottas onto 55 points for the season so far, sitting in 7th place in the Formula One World Championship ahead of the likes of Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen and McLaren duo Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

‘It’s difficult to explain how I feel right now. That was the best champagne I’ve ever tasted. All the hard work that the team puts in shows in moments like this. Bottas told formula1.com.

‘I had one pitstop that really put in me in the fight and that changed my race, so well done to the boys for that. I had put in a good lap before that and so I got in front on Felipe and from there I could manage my pace with the cars in front. Having both cars score good points is what we wanted and so third and fourth for the team is a great result.

Brazilian Felipe Massa was quick to congratulate his team-mate despite dropping from first to fourth during the race.

‘I am very happy for Valtteri, he did a great job. We had a good fight with the Mercedes but it was clear we were never going to win. I had to manage my tyres the whole race and also struggled with traffic. To stop first and come back out fourth is a bit disappointing but that’s racing.

Despite it being an excellent race weekend for the Williams team, some have questioned whether or not they could have got more out of the car during the race.

Having started the race first and second on the grid, surely one of them should have been able to compete for the Grand Prix win? But neither Valtteri Bottas nor Felipe Massa covered Nico Rosberg on tyre strategy, gifting the advantage to the Mercedes driver.

‘There’s a chance, if we’d done what Nico did, we wouldn’t have got to the end, Tyre wear was that close. I’m reasonably happy with what we did.’ Williams head of vehicle performance Rob Smedley told the BBC.

‘We wouldn’t be racers if you didn’t feel a slight twinge of disappointment but you have to look at the positives.

‘We were beaten by a faster car and a better organised team. They did a better job than us, there’s no doubt about that. We knew we had to manage systems on the car, brakes, tyres – and it was all about that.’

The 27 points won by Williams places them in the top five of the Formula One constructors championship, ahead of McLaren who drop to sixth.

Williams trail Force India by just 2 points, whilst Ferrari are only 13 points ahead in third.