Bottas' points account has yet to be opened this season.
Sauber's Valtteri Bottas failed to open his points account in the fourth race of the F1 season in Suzuka, Japan, even though it looked quite good from the start.
After the race, Bottas pointed the finger of blame towards Sauber, whose pit work again left much to be desired.
Bottas started the race from the 13th grid, but Daniel Ricciardo and by Alexander Albon a crash on the opening lap immediately raised the Finn two notches.
The first tire change was still tolerable, and Bottas drove in 11th place, but the second pit stop had the familiar stickiness from the beginning of the season.
During the stop, Bottas dropped from 11th to 15th. He was able to clear a couple of places after that, but the Haas driver Kevin Magnussen was too hard a piece to break even though Bottas was faster.
“Should have scored. It took a little too long at the first stop and after that we were behind everyone again. The final race was actually behind Magnussen, and there was no way he could pass,” Bottas stated in an interview with Viaplay.
Bottas at one point he was so nervous about Magnussen's driving line change that he asked his team to report the Danish driver's driving style to the race jury.
In the end, Bottas was Max Verstappen's won only 14th in the race, which misses his best ranking of the season.
Bottas does not have a contract for next season, so he should be able to show that he is still a viable driver with his performances. So far, the season hasn't exactly paid off for further dreams.
The season continues in two weeks with the Chinese competition.
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