Bottas: “It’s very disappointing to lose like this”

Valtteri Bottas came close to securing his first victory since the Abu Dhabi GP which concluded the 2017 season, but the driver Mercedes lost his duel against Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) at the Bahrain Grand Prix contested last Sunday on the Sakhir circuit.

With his teammate Lewis Hamilton Starting only from ninth position, the Finn had a good opportunity to beat the German's SF71H. The Nordic driver also benefited from a good strategy since his W09 performed very well during his second stint on medium tires, which forced the race leader to switch to a one-stop strategy while he played on soft compounds.

“It's very disappointing to lose like this, finishing second with such a small gap at the finish, after having had good pace in the race. I will definitely try to get them next time,” promised Valtteri Bottas who failed just six tenths behind the Ferrari.

“We knew it would be very close with Sebastian in the last laps. I tried everything to get back close enough to attempt an attack. But we lose braking support due to aero turbulence. It affects the front axle and this explains why we often find ourselves locking the front wheels,” explained the Mercedes driver.

Valtteri Bottas will enter the Chinese GP this week 11 points behind his teammate Lewis Hamilton, who is in second place in the Championship, 17 points behind Sebastian Vettel.

Discover the analysis of the Bahrain Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2160 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version on all platforms, and on newsstands from Wednesday.