Valtteri Bottas: “We were able to really challenge the Ferraris”

When Lewis Hamilton misses his braking in the first chicane of the Monza Autodrome in the last part of the Italian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas undoubtedly thought he had a real chance to try to win the Lombard event, something that no Finn had achieved at the time.

But never the pilot Mercedes will not return to the height of the Ferrari SF90 head Charles Leclerc, much too fast in a straight line. Despite an offbeat strategy, Bottas was unable to take advantage of his slightly cooler tires at the end of the race.

“I think we had a good strategy by extending the first stint, which opened up opportunities at the end, analyze old driver Williams. But I'm disgusted. I tried everything I could to catch him but there was no other way.

When I got close enough, I started to lock the left front wheel, due to the lack of support. It was the best I could do today. »

The Finn, however, believes that Mercedes coped rather well with the problem posed by the long Italian straights, on a track where the Silver Arrows had been undefeated since 2014. But the qualities of the Ferrari SF90 had logically placed the Italian clan as favorite for this weekend, just like a week earlier in Belgium at Spa.

“We came to Monza expecting it to be one of the toughest races of the season for us, but we were able to really challenge the Ferraris, so it's good, admits Bottas. Overall it was a good race and I think we can leave Italy with a positive feeling.

On paper, the upcoming races should be more in our favor and I'm looking forward to fighting with Ferrari and Red Bull over the next few weeks. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the Italian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Monza, in issue 2233 of AUTOhebdo, available this evening in digital version and this Wednesday on newsstands.