Valtteri Bottas slowed down by his tires in Sochi

Valtteri Bottas offered himself his fifth podium of the season in Sochi by taking third place at the Russian Grand Prix behind the Mercedes de Lewis Hamilton et Nico Rosberg. If the W05s were untouchable, the Finn stood out again this weekend with a result which allows him to advance Sebastian Vettel et Fernando Alonso in the Championship. “I have to be satisfied for the team,” the Scandinavian soberly commented. “The comeback that started last year has been incredible. Today we were “the best of the rest”. Unfortunately, Mercedes is still a little ahead of us. »

Following Nico Rosberg's unforeseen stop, Valtteri Bottas moved into second position, managing to keep pace with the leader during the first part of the race. “The start of the race was encouraging because we were not far from Lewis and everything was working as planned. The tires reacted well but the rear rubber deteriorated suddenly. I started to lose speed and Lewis took off. I then had a lot of trouble getting the medium tires to work after my stop and their performance improved until the finish since I set my best lap of the race on the last lap. It was really strange. »

The “soft stomach” in the race of Valtteri Bottas allowed Nico Roberg to easily regain the advantage against the Williams to ensure the double for Mercedes. “As it took a while for the tires to work, Nico overtook me in the first corner. This surprised me a bit because I wasn't expecting to see him inside. Fortunately I was able to see him in time and avoid contact. »

Discover the analysis of the Russian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 1982 of AUTOhebdo, available from tomorrow evening in digital version, and from Wednesday on newsstands.