Valtteri Bottas admits some luck at Silverstone

After qualifying, and the gearbox change penalty imposed on Valtteri Bottas, doubled potential Mercedes on the Silverstone route seemed difficult to see, as Ferrari seemed able to complete the podium behind a Lewis Hamilton announced as untouchable and who largely responded this Sunday.

But it was in the first two places that the two Silver Arrows finished, since Valtteri Bottas managed to cross the finish line in second place. Author of a good comeback at the start of the race, with a tire strategy that was different from his rivals and a start on soft compounds, the Finn waited until the last part of the event to initially take the advantage over Sebastian Vettel.

« The first time I tried to pass on the outside, he defended on the inside, and I think we were pretty side-by-side. There was no more space and I had to go off the track. It's the race. Of course, he defended hard and I tried hard on the outside, so no drama about that. »

Luck favors Mercedes

It was then the success which helped Bottas to gain a place since Räikkönen saw the tire of his Ferrari start to go to shreds, forcing the Finn to return to the pits. « Starting ninth, there were a lot of cars that were not easy to overtake, but the team accomplished an absolutely perfect strategy. I just had to put my head down, keep going and end up with the puncture With Kimi we were a little lucky, but it was a perfect weekend for us. »

Find the report and analysis of the British Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents at Silverstone, in issue 2123 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.