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Valtteri Bottas was finally able to get behind the wheel of the Williams FW34 on Wednesday in Barcelona, following the cancelled shakedown at the beginning of February. The Finn spent the day working on set up and tyre comparisons and after rounding the circuit 117 times, Bottas labelled the day as enjoyable.
"I really enjoyed today," said the 22 year old test driver. "It was great to get back in the car as I have been waiting for this day since I took part in the young driver test in Abu Dhabi last year.
"The FW34 again showed good reliability, as we completed 117 laps while doing some interesting tests with the car set-up. I’m looking forward to assisting the team at race weekends this season and can’t wait to drive the car again."
Heading into the new season, Bottas will participate in a number of Friday practice sessions for the team. Chief Operations Engineer of Williams F1, Mark Gillan commented on his performance over the course of the day.
"Valtteri did a good job today completing 117 laps without issue, working on general car set-up with a run plan tailored around familiarising him with a typical Friday P1 race session."
Pastor Maldonado will be behind the wheel for the Grove based squad on Thursday with the Venezuelan also rounding out the first Barcelona test on Friday.
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| Pos. | Driver | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 01:22.608 | 112 | |
| 2. | 01:22.648 | 85 | |
| 3. | 01:22.891 | 104 | |
| 4. | 01:23.180 | 87 | |
| 5. | 01:23.639 | 50 | |
| 6. | 01:23.806 | 121 | |
| 7. | 01:24.555 | 82 | |
| 8. | 01:25.738 | 117 | |
| 9. | 01:26.605 | 69 | |
| 10. | 01:27.343 | 109 | |
| Full results | |||
| Valtteri Bottas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| More Valtteri Bottas photos | |||