Valtteri Bottas has suggested Mercedes’ strategy was “far from ideal” after a difficult 70th Anniversary Grand Prix.
It was another underwhelming performance by the Finn who just about repelled Lewis Hamilton on Lap 1, but was later easily passed by Max Verstappen and then by his teammate in the final laps as he slipped to third in the final results and the Drivers’ Championship.
Of course, Bottas wasn’t helped by what was the toughest race so far for Mercedes, as blistering on the tyres limited their pace.
And Valtteri wasn’t impressed by an earlier second pit-stop, which then left him exposed to Hamilton in the closing laps.
“Obviously, starting from pole and finishing third, it’s not ideal,” he commented.
“As a team, we were sleeping at some point, when Max got ahead of us and my strategy was far, far from ideal, so we have a lot to learn from today.
“Of course I was trying, if there was a chance, to keep up with Max, but as soon as I started to push, towards the end, the tyres just fell apart,” he added.
“There was a lot of blistering on the tyres for us today and it seems like Red Bull had none, so they clearly have an edge over there.”
Asked about Bottas’ “sleeping” claim though, team boss Toto Wolff bit back at his driver.
“I just spoke to Valtteri, I don’t think we were sleeping, but I accept his perspective,” he said. “I think we just had the slower car today, and we just admit that.
“His point was should we have done the opposite to Max. As a matter of fact, this wouldn’t have changed anything, because Max would have come out with a fresh tyre, and we would have continued with a tyre that wasn’t in the best state any more, and he just pitted in front of us. So not sure what we could have done better.”
Also Read:
Just to make matters even worse for the 32-year-old, Wolff then revealed the decision to keep Hamilton out was taken after inspecting his tyres.
“Obviously he’s not in a happy place that he was P2 and Lewis was P3,” he added.
“But it was the learning that happened on-track when we got Valtteri’s tyre in, we saw there was actually a lot of rubber left, and we extended Lewis’s stint, albeit that there were big vibrations but a lot of rubber.
“Therefore, he was getting quicker and quicker, the more the rubber went down, and that is why we could extend the stint, and eventually Lewis overtook Valtteri. It’s clear he’s not happy, and I totally respect that. None of us are happy today with the result.”
