Bottas still beaten: “My strategy was far from optimal”

Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes) appeared to have taken a crucial step towards victory at the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix of the Formula 1. The Finn, not content with preserving his pole position advantage when the lights went out, then kept his teammate Lewis Hamilton at a safe distance during his initial stint.

After the first, and hopefully only, wave of pit stops, the black arrow at number 77 regained a lead of more than 3 seconds over his colleague and opponent. However, the beautiful order was going to falter because of Max Verstappen and his tactics with a single pit-stop!

With hard tires, the Mercedes were slower than the Red Bull equipped with identical erasers. Returning to the track just behind Valtteri Bottas, Max Verstappen was going to make short work of it thanks to fresher envelopes. 

Passing through the stands a second time, the poleman was going to give in to Lewis Hamilton in the final rounds. “It’s very frustrating, of course. he admitted. My strategy was far from optimal. We should have stayed on track longer during my second stint. As a result, the end of the race was easier for Hamilton. »

Valtteri Bottas is therefore not at all satisfied with the fate reserved for him by the strategists at the Star. “The team fell asleep when Max passed in front of us (after the Mercedes stops). There is a lot to learn from this race.

Max was in front of me, he could attack more and he had the advantage. When we look at the Red Bulls, they didn't have any blisters on the tires. We do not know why. This is the most important thing for us to focus on. » Another missed opportunity for Valtteri Bottas to regain points from Lewis Hamilton in the championship. 

Find in issue 2273 of AUTOhebdo, available Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, the analysis of the 70th anniversary GP by our special correspondent.