Valtteri Bottas has hit out at his grid penalty for the Styrian Grand Prix, claiming everyone in Formula 1 is trying to “screw you over”.
The Mercedes driver qualified second for Sunday’s race at the Red Bull Ring as his final effort in Q3 saw him just beat teammate Lewis Hamilton.
And reflecting on the session, Bottas was satisfied with the progress made over the weekend.
“I honestly think it was a good qualifying,” he said.
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“I think I’ve been a bit little lost with the setup during the weekend so far. We’ve been working closely with Lewis as well, to try and help find the optimal set-up.
“Definitely got some guidance from his side of the garage because I was struggling with pace on Friday and was a little bit confused on which way to go.
“By working as a team we found the right direction and after that, I actually found the confidence in the car and it felt good.
“On that last lap, there were definitely not two-tenths left on the table, so I think Max [Verstappen] and Red Bull were faster today,” the Finn acknowledged.
“It was a good lap and I’m pleased with that. Of course, it’s a shame I’ve got the penalty, but obviously the job today was to maximise the situation.”
Indeed from P2, Bottas will drop three places to fifth after the stewards deemed his spin in the pit-lane during Friday Practice to be “potentially dangerous driving”.
“In my personal view, it’s quite harsh,” he claimed.
“I never imagined after that there would be a penalty, but of course, the other teams, when they see the opportunity they complain that it’s dangerous, etc., so that we get penalised.
“That’s how it goes. Everyone is always trying to screw you over in this sport.
“Yes, for sure it can be a dangerous situation if there’s a lot of people in the pitlane, but, no.”
The incident saw Bottas lose the rear exiting his pit-box and slide in front of the McLaren garage, with the Woking-based team declaring it “ridiculous” in a radio call to the FIA.
“It definitely caught me out, I never imagined that would happen on the pit lane,” Bottas recalled.
“We decided to try something different on the launch and start in second gear, because sometimes with the higher gear and the lower revs you can manage, as the wheelspin in the initial part is not so aggressive.
“But then, once I got the wheelspin it really caught me out, maybe the lines on the pit lane were still slightly damp from the drizzle and I just couldn’t hold it. Obviously quite a different behaviour in second gear than in first gear. So, that happened.”
