Bottas: Win at Barcelona possible with a good start
- Published on 18 Aug 2020 12:03
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- By: Coilin Higgins
Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas was confident he could have challenged for a victory during Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, had he not had such a poor start.
Bottas lined up in second on the grid, alongside teammate Lewis Hamilton on the front row. However, the poor getaway left him vulnerable to the cars behind and unable to challenge Hamilton for the lead.
The start saw Bottas drop to fourth behind Max Verstappen and Lance Stroll, and although he managed to take third from Stroll in the opening laps, Bottas admitted there was nothing that could have been done to take second back from Verstappen.
Bottas was unsure why he got such a poor start off the line, but confirmed that he will look into it with the team and figure out why his initial launch off the line was not as good as his teammate's.
The Finn explained how he will go over the data and make use of onboard cameras to try and understand the incident and make sure it doesn't happen again.
Bottas also suffered a poor getaway at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July, in a race that again saw him finish third behind Verstappen, while Hamilton took the victory.
"I think with a good start, a win would have been possible, but the start was bad," Bottas said.
"I don't know yet [what happened], we need to analyse but I was on the outside line for turn one, lost places there. Then, of course, this track it becomes a bit more tricky, so I tried to do everything I could and maximise every stint but there was not really much to do once Max was ahead.
"[He will do] everything to understand. Of course, from the data and videos and all that so for sure, we will analyse that."
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Replies (6)
Login to replymcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
This is getting tiresome. Get someone worthy in the other mercedes.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
I'm known to be a glass half-full kinda person, but even I'm getting a little fatigued by this. I would rather the reporter not ask Bottas the question anymore, then he doesn't have to answer it. It will do wonders for his PR.
Snooky
Posts: 121
But that’s not likely or sensible for Mercedes is it? Look at the stress having Hamilton and Rosberg in the team competing again each other created. Bottas is an excellent number 2 driver, no one can question that, if Hamilton has a bad day Bottas is there to pick up the pieces and get a result. That’s what he’s there to do. Mercedes haven’t kept him in that seat to win a driver’s championship, he’s there to help secure the constructors while hamilton still drives for them.
Pistonhead
Posts: 556
Trouble is, he's got a contract for rest this season and next right? Promote George Russell and send Bottas back to Williams.
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
Bottas never had a chance. Zero. He's to Lewis what Rubens Barrichello was to Michael Schumacher.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Yep. Rubens Bottas from now.