“We threw away an easy double“. Valtteri’s words Bottas in a radio team of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix they surprised by their coldness and desire to play as a team again after the heated controversies in Mexico City. The Finn would not have stopped a second time, he believed that his hards could last until the end of the race. And in fact there were 30 laps to go, with a life of only 11 laps for the tires mounted in the first pit stop. Mercedes has instead chosen to copy Max Verstappen immediately with Bottas and to stop Lewis Hamilton three laps later than the Dutchman. However, it is unlikely that the Finn would then have had the chance to overtake the Red Bull driver, considering how hard the seven-time world champion had to work.
Bottas commented on his race as follows: “Surprised by Max at the start? He got off to a good start, but mine wasn’t great. I had some skating, I don’t know what happened. My clutch slipped, I tried to fix it but he was already in front and I couldn’t do anything about it. Then I defended myself on Checo but I went wide. The first lap was a nightmare for me. After that I kept pushing and in the end it was a nice reward to have Lewis in front and me in third place. They are a good haul of points for the team“, He told Sky Sport F1. “Strategy? I believe that only one stop could be made. I was surprised to have to stop a second time, but we’ll have a look at it tonight. Fresh engines? Mine is not that fresh anymore. But Lewis’s one does and it sure helps. It doesn’t make a huge difference, but the fight in the league is so balanced that every little advantage helps. Mercedes on this track? The pace was amazing, even at the end of the stint we were strong and we didn’t do much different, the track adapted to us more than we expected.“.
#Bottas #nightmare #lap #surprising #pace #FormulaPassionit