The Finnish driver’s hopes of climbing the podium have shrunk after a series of accidents. He was sentenced to three penalties grid for ignoring the waving of the yellow flag.
Bottas started the race on Sunday (11/21/2021), from sixth. The mistake in positioning instantly made his mood worse.
Initially, race management pointed P5 for him. However, Ferrari did not want to give up the position that had been achieved by Carlos Sainz.
Finally it was decided that Bottas started from sixth position. “That’s very bad. It should have been from fifth place, the result would have been very different today,” said Bottas.
It failed to warm up the tires when start, lost grip and slipped all the way down to P11. Hard to overtake Yuki Tsunoda, Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll in DRS (drag reduction system).
Another blow came when he suffered a flat left front tire on lap 33. This situation is confusing because there are no signs beforehand. He has to come in pit to change the medium tire two laps later, which actually hampered it.
“At first, I thought the wind would help on the straights because the car was pushed to the side. Then, I had a leak at the first corner. Of course, that was the worst point of the track. Grip good and it just happened,” said Bottas.
Mercedes principal Toto Wolff and the crew looked at the data and found no explanation for the cause of the leak.
The Austrian man contributed to the chaos of the Bottas race. He gave instructions to overtake the opponent at the wrong moment.
Ultimately, Bottas had to end the race with nine remaining lap after being asked by the team. They don’t want the damage to the car’s engine to get worse if they are forced to drive to the end.
After all, at that time, Lewis Hamilton’s tandem was in 13th position. Withdrawing from the race has nothing to lose in such conditions.
“We knew we would reach the limit, but since there was no vibration and grip good. We feel good. At least, I feel it’s natural and the best chance for the podium,” he said.
“I think we will stop one or two lap then so you can get to the podium. So it’s just bad luck.”
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
Mercedes’ chief race engineer, Andrew Shovlin, explained why he asked Bottas to leave the race.
“We decided to bring the car back because we couldn’t see the prospect points. There was a lot of damage to the aerodynamics and we started to get more vibration with the tires. Whether it has anything to do with it or not, we will tell Pirelli.”
Bottas is frustrated with this weekend’s trip. He is very tough, even faster, than Hamilton in free practice.
However, when he entered the crucial moment, his appearance was oversized. The driver, who will move to Alfa Romeo for the 2022 season, then observes that his car suit is different from that of the seven-time F1 world champion.
“I found an explanation. I’m not going into details, but the car is not the same nor is it different from Lewis. There are some differences,” he said.
While Shovlin said, “The car is very fast and we did a good job in setting. He puts the car in a better position than Lewis, but it was a bit difficult for Valtteri from Saturday.”
