Valtteri Bottas admits he “can’t really afford many weekends” like the one he suffered in Canada.
The Finn finished a lowly fourth in Montreal to fall 29 points behind Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton in the Drivers’ standings.
Already, it has led to questions as to whether his championship charge is losing steam, but reflecting on his weekend, Bottas believes his bad result stemmed from his Q3 spin in qualifying
“I still felt really good in Q1 and Q2, in Q2 I had a clear idea of how to improve and where to improve, and I was really confident,” he said.
“Then it really came down to a silly mistake that meant I lost quite a few points, which is obviously annoying. I can’t really afford many of these types of weekends if I want to fight for the title. I have to move on.
“Maybe it was a bit of a wake-up call again. I’m sure I can always learn from that. For me, thoughts are already on the French Grand Prix.”
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Asked if the spin was a result of pressure as he faced the challenge of Hamilton and both Ferraris in Canada, Valtteri disagreed.
“I have no pressure. I am very happy about the situation and how everything’s been going since the beginning of the year,” he claimed.
“I’m enjoying it. I made one mistake. Maybe at the end, I was trying too much to recover that. That can happen.
“I wouldn’t say anything from the last couple of races was anything to do with pressure.”