Bottas disappointed: “The debris was on the trajectory and I didn’t have time to react”

The 15th pole position of Valtteri Bottas en Formula 1 had a high probability of converting into a 10th victory this Sunday, November 1 in Imola (Italy). Alas, the 31-year-old Finn ends up again behind his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton.

If the shifted strategy with a longer first stint favored the six-time world champion, his runner-up was mainly penalized by damage to his flat bottom. “It wasn’t my day,” he said. I had no chance, with this debris in the car, of fighting for victory, unfortunately, but, at least, we could get a double, which is the ideal way to secure the seventh Manufacturers' crown.

Valtteri Bottas indeed recovered a piece of wing left by the Ferrari de Sebastian Vettel, author of a clash with the Haas de Kevin Magnussen at the Tosa hairpin in the first round. “The debris was on the trajectory and I didn't have time to react.

So, I decided to at least aim well, I preferred to roll over it with the middle of the car rather than with one of my wheels in order to avoid a possible puncture, explains Valtteri Bottas. Unfortunately, the piece of carbon got stuck in the flat bottom, and it apparently cost me 15 points of support. »

This is the reason why the Mercedes poorly negotiated Rivazza's downhill braking, going so far as to roll into the gravel on two occasions. “In some corners I could feel the car sliding a little and during some braking the behavior was unpredictable. Sometimes I would lock the wheels and sometimes the phenomenon would stop quite quickly.

It wasn't really consistent with the downforce I had in the car. This made things really difficult and I could see I didn't quite have the pace and Max (Verstappen) put a lot of pressure. »

Without the Dutchman's retirement, Valtteri Bottas finished in third place. Mathematically, he remains in the race for the Drivers' crown but his hopes are almost nil.