Bottas: “My best chance will come at the start”

Over the last 19 editions of the Spanish Grand Prix, only 4 were won by a driver who did not start from pole position. Valtteri Bottas knows something about it, he who started at the front last year but was beaten at the first turn by his teammate Lewis Hamilton, 2rd on the grid.

The Finn intends to pay back the six-time world champion, who beat him by a breath, 59 thousandths, in qualifying this Saturday afternoon.

“I knew it would be very close with Lewis, as always, said Bottas when he got out of the car. His first lap in Q3 was very clean, especially in the third sector.

This is a part of the circuit where I found myself in difficulty all day, turns 10 and 12 particularly. It's annoying but that's how it is. Lewis did a great job and it’s a great result for the team.

The long relays on Friday were promising so I expect to have good race pace but my best chance will come at the start. I'll try to take the lead at the first corner, trust me. »

Overtaking is not easy on the Catalan circuit, which explains the pole-victory ratio in the statistics and Bottas' desire to get the better of his teammate from the first meters of the race

Mercedes is undefeated in Spain since 2016 and a fratricidal fight between Hamilton and his sidekick at the time, Nico Rosberg. Starting from pole, the Briton was surprised at the start and then tried to recover his possession immediately.

A maneuver which ended with a memorable collision between the Mercedes (and a record first career victory for Max Verstappen).

We cannot advise Bottas to do the same of course, but if he wants to avoid being knocked out by Hamilton in the Drivers' standings, perhaps he will one day have to resolve to step up his game. Even if it means that 'there's a bit of shavings...