Bottas thought he had lost everything in his contact with Verstappen

Has the trend been reversed at Mercedes ? From Spain, Valtteri Bottas no longer seems to have the same magic formula that allowed him to achieve an almost perfect start to the season against his teammate Lewis Hamilton.

Narrowly dominated by the Briton for the crucial pole position on Saturday in Monaco, the Finn lost big in a collision with Max Verstappen in the pit lane, causing him a puncture. A contact following a loss of time due to the strategy chosen by Mercedes when deploying the safety car.

“We stopped at the same time as Lewis, recalls Bottas. We had a little gap between us for the stop, but I don't know for whatever reason my stop was a little slow. Max was next to me in the pit lane, even though he was behind before.

I kept my line, he continued to deviate to the right. We touched each other, and I also touched the wall because there was no space. With the consequence of a puncture. »

Forced to return to the pit lane immediately, Valtteri Bottas fell behind Verstappen and Hag, but could however count on the 5″ penalty imposed on the pilot Red Bull to remain on the provisional podium, which will be confirmed when crossing the line. A lesser consolation for the former pilot Williams who is now 17 points behind Hamilton in the championship.

“I thought that with the puncture and the extra stop I was going to be pushed back to the back of the pack, but fortunately I only lost two places, Bottas consoles himself. So, it was bad luck but lucky at the same time. It could have been much worse. These are still important points, but it is obviously disappointing to lose a place compared to the starting position. Sometimes it happens like that. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the Monaco Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in the Principality, in issue 2218 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version and from tomorrow on newsstands.