Bottas fastest as McLaren woes continue

BARCELONA: Finish driver Valtteri Bottas was fastest for Williams on the final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona as McLaren’s reliability problems continued.
Bottas bettered teammate Felipe Massa’s time from Saturday on the supersoft tyres, but was still someway off Mercedes’ best on the slower soft tyres in Barcelona in 1min 23.063sec.
Nico Rosberg’s time of 1min 22.792sec from Friday remained the benchmark across eight days of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya with the first Grand Prix of the season in Melbourne now just two weeks away.
“It was a really good day and a great way to finish the test,” said Bottas, who finished fourth in last season’s drivers’ championship.
“One of the main points we have learnt is that the FW37 is very reliable. The car we are taking to Melbourne is very competitive and should make for an interesting start to the season.”
Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was second quickest when also running on the supersoft compound with Brazilian Felipe Nasr in third.
Rosberg concentrated on mileage over speed for Mercedes as he completed a mammoth 148 laps in only the seventh fastest time.