Bottas frustrated by his second place, “a disaster” for Hamilton

Mercedes expected to see the clearing in its performance in Shanghai (China) on the last day of the weekend, thanks to a rise in temperatures. Theoretically, the reigning four-time world champion team was right; factually, the boat was missed, with “only” a second place for Valtteri Bottas and a finish at the foot of the podium for Lewis Hamilton.

Like the qualifications, the best representative of the Silver Arrows was the Finn. His “undercut” on Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari) allowed him to steal the lead of the race after the first pit stops. Victory was on the horizon when the Safety Car intervened to remove the debris from the collision gasly-Hartley (Toro Rosso).

“We lost the Grand Prix during this neutralization, Explain Valtteri Bottas. When it was announced, Sebastian and I had passed the pit entrance, we were unlucky – the cars behind us were able to adapt (Mostly the Red Bull), but not us. They were able to have new tires, while I covered 40 laps with the same set of medium tires, obviously I was going slower in the finish. »

" It's disappointing ; It looks more like a victory lost than a podium won”, summarizes the former pilot Williams. " We saw a real fighter behind the wheel, judges his boss Toto wolff. This is the main positive point of the day. His overtaking on the outside of turn 1 on Kimi (Räikkönen, Ferrari) was daring. But the reality is that we lacked pace in every phase of the race and Valtteri was unlucky with the Safety Car. »

The leader of the Anglo-German team continued his difficult meeting. Lewis Hamilton was never in the match for the victory, and finished fourth. “ Another difficult day, He says. I tried to hold on, but my tires were ruined. I had no possibility of keeping the advantage over the Red Bulls. The last two days have been a disaster. I just haven't had the right pace since Saturday's free practice, and I had difficulty driving the car. We lacked performance. »

No one is harder on themselves after a tough race than the Champ…

He'll be sure to bounce back in Baku #DrivenByEachOther #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/rK81CQi6PI

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) April 15th

 
The Briton is not dejected, however, as he is only nine points behind Sebastian Vettel in the overall standings. “I am not going to give up, I know that a tough battle awaits us. I need to get back to my usual level of performance before losing too much ground in the championship. It could have been worse, Max (Verstappen, Red Bull) provided me with a service in the accounting field. But it’s clearly a weekend to forget. »

Toto Wolff draws the conclusion of this weekend: Mercedes no longer dominates F1, with no success after three events. “The hierarchy of performances has radically evolved over the three trips, and there is still a way to go before we fully understand our car and how to get the most out of tires. »

Discover the analysis of the Chinese GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2161 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.