F1 | Williams, Massa: “Very disappointing day”

Yet another misstep for Williams in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix. Felipe Massa and Lance Stroll ended their Saturday in sixteenth and eighteenth position, failing to gain access to Q2. A very disappointing qualifying where the FW40 highlighted all its difficulties in the fast corners. The objective tomorrow will be to contain the damage and hope for luck.

Here are the words of Felipe Massa: “I am so disappointed with the results. We are not competitive enough. I thought maybe the crash would be a problem for today, but I managed to understand and balance the car. The car is simply not competitive, which is why I'm disappointed. Even before losing five places on the grid, it's not a good start for tomorrow's race, but the race is the race. We have to try everything we can and that's why I can't wait for tomorrow."

Here are Lance Stroll's impressions: “I got a flat rear wheel and it's one of those things that happens. Unfortunately this held me back, so I couldn't go out for a second lap in Q1 and my qualifying ended there. We need a faster and more competitive car, we can't sustain the speed that other cars can sustain and it's costing us a lot on certain circuits. If I had gone out for the second lap I would definitely have gone faster, but I think it would have been difficult to go beyond Q1. It's really frustrating and we don't want to be in this situation, but we have to keep working on the car. I'm just hoping for a better day tomorrow and as there are long straights overtaking is possible. We must be positive and hopeful."

Roberto Valenti