Finnish Formula One driver Valtteri Bottas of Williams celebrates on the podium after taking the second place in the German Formula One Grand Prix.
Before Valtteri Bottas flew to Budapest for the next stop in the Formula One season, the Williams driver sent some quick greeting to the world.
“Found this beauty in Frankfurt airport,” the Finn tweeted with a picture of a replica Williams racing car. And it’s no wonder Bottas is proud of his company vehicle - after years of disappointment, the famous Williams team is dreaming of a return to the top of the sport.
“We definitely want more, we’ve not hit the maximum,” Bottas said ahead of Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Bottas has been a key figure in the Williams revival in the first half of the season with the team currently third in the constructors’ championship. The last three races have brought podium finishes for Bottas and with 91 points he is fifth in the drivers’ championship, ahead of world champion Sebastian Vettel.
“I am delighted for all the team who really have had a few bad years,” Red Bull’s Vettel said of Williams. “They have earned it, to be at the front again.”
Red Bull are second in the constructors’ race but aware Williams, backed with a Mercedes engine, are a genuine threat to their current position.
“They have a fast car which cannot be ignored,” Red Bull team chief Christian Horner warned.
For nearly a decade, Williams have been wishing for a summer of performances like what they have produced in 2014. With the exception of Pastor Maldonado’s sensational victory in Spain 2012, glory for the team has been in short supply.
It was in 2005 that the team last had more than one podium finish in a season, the last top three finish in the constructor’s championship was 2003, and the last world title, from Jacques Villeeuve, was in 1997.
“We’ve stuck together through thick and thin - and finally getting to where we are now is a fantastic reward for all the hard work,” Claire Williams, the deputy team principal, told the Formula One homepage.
“We are hopefully sailing into a successful future!”
The only negative presently is the ill fortune suffered by driver Felipe Massa, who has been forced to retire through the fault of others in various recent races.
With 30 points, the Brazilian veteran is 61 behind his younger team-mate.
“I know what I can do,” Massa said. “That doesn’t worry me, I’m just as good as he is.” But the future belongs to Bottas.
“The boy is so cool, he’s wonderful,” Claire Williams said. After only 29 races, he already drives like a veteran, as seen at last Sunday’s German Grand Prix when he held off the challenge of Lewis Hamilton in a Mercedes to claim second.
“We believe he is a world champion in the making - it is so exciting to have him with us,” said Williams.
After such a long time in the doldrums, confidence is finally high in the Williams camp once more.
