Valtteri Bottas: “We must congratulate Lewis Hamilton who drove incredibly today”

Starting in pole position, the Finn was surprised by Max Verstappen at the first corner and finished in third place in this very lively Grand Prix.

Published on 14/11/2021 à 20:11

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Valtteri Bottas: “We must congratulate Lewis Hamilton who drove incredibly today”

On the right, Valtteri Bottas salutes Lewis Hamilton's victory. Antonin Vincent / DPPI

In a São Paulo Grand Prix where the battle between the two championship leaders attracted everyone's attention, Valtteri Bottas did his team a favor by finishing in front Sergio Perez. Starting from pole position and finishing the race in third place, the Finn let Lewis pass on lap 5 to allow the Briton to overtake Max Verstappen, something he will do on the 60th lap. Although he admits to being disappointed with his performance at the start, the Finn retains the positive and salutes the very good race of his teammate.

“I am disappointed with my start and my first lap. I tried to maintain the pressure until the end and I think we could have made just one stop. We switched to a two-stop strategy. We must congratulate Lewis Hamilton who drove unbelievably today.”

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In the fight with Sergio Perez, the virtual Safety Car on the 31st lap allowed the Finn to enter the pit lane and adopt a winning strategy, which will allow him to overtake the Mexican and keep this precious third place until to the checkered flag.

“The virtual safety car was in the right place for me today. I was happy about that. In the end, these are solid points that we scored today for the constructors' championship.”

In the Manufacturer's championship, Mercedes regains 12 points lead over Red Bull. The next Grand Prix will be in Qatar and promises a great battle between the two teams.