Bottas: a victory that was not enough

Valtteri Bottas may have had an exemplary weekend with pole and victory at the US GP, the Finn could not prevent his teammate Lewis Hamilton to win his 6th title. The pilot Mercedes signed his 4th victory of the season, the 7th of his career, and secured the honorary place of vice-champion.

If the outcome of the championship was no longer in doubt, Valtteri Bottas remains frustrated at not being able to measure up to his cumbersome teammate.

“I had a great victory. I felt since the day before that the car had very good potential and this was confirmed in the race where we had the pace to win. I could only concentrate on that, but it wasn't enough to prevent Lewis from being titled. I congratulate him”, commented the Finn

“I missed my goal this year but there will be next season. In any case, he deserves this coronation because his season was magnificent. I have mixed feelings being happy with my victory but regretting my place as the best of the rest. It remains my best season ever F1 so far and I have improved in many areas such as my running pace. »

Valtteri Bottas admitted that he had long doubted his strategy compared to that of Lewis Hamilton who bet on a one-stop race.

“I wasn't sure that my strategy was the best, but my pace was good and I was able to try this two-stop bet which was not initially planned. The race was tough and I was relieved to cross the finish line as the winner. The departure went as planned, but we had to follow Max's strategy (Verstappen) who stopped early while being on a two-stop strategy. Lewis did the opposite and I therefore did my best to waste a minimum of time”, confided the Finn.

“I was getting closer to him while we were in traffic. Lewis made a small mistake at turn 11 and I was able to take my chance. He protected the inside, I was in front but he braked very late and I was sure to go wide to avoid the collision. It’s OK for me because I would have done the same thing in his place”, he admitted.

Valtteri Bottas will continue to defend the interests of Mercedes next year by facing the six-time world champion Briton for the 4th consecutive year.

Discover the analysis of the US GP carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2441 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.