Valtteri Bottas claims the amount of defensive driving he is having to do against his rivals is “annoying”.
The Finn started third in Brazil on Sunday but made his way up to second at the start by passing Sebastian Vettel through the Senna S.
From that point, however, it was all about watching his mirrors as Max Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen and Daniel Ricciardo all made their way through at differing stages in the race.
“Sometimes it was getting annoying because I had to do it so many times,” he told Crash.net when asked if he considered himself one of the toughest drivers to overtake on the grid.
“I was trying to defend and you have to compromise, how much you defend, how much you sacrifice the next straight or corner.
“I tried, but in the end, it was just a matter of time that the people got through.”
Also Read:
- Raikkonen: P3 the best result possible in Brazil
- Ricciardo rues another ‘fast car’ when starting out of position
- Vettel gives Brazil race ‘one out of ten’ after lowly P6
A fifth-place result would be the conclusion as Mercedes opted to see off any threat from a two-stopping Vettel by pitting Bottas a second time.
And overall, it was just a disappointing race for the 29-year-old who now has one more chance to claim an elusive victory this season at the site of his last success in Abu Dhabi.
“For sure it could have been a lot better. Just the first stint, struggled with some overheating and in the second stint I had blistering on the rears,” Valtteri said.
“So once the blistering started, my pace was a little bit slow, and once Daniel [Ricciardo] got through, we had a free pit stop behind so that’s why we stopped, to minimise the risk.
“In the end it was just bringing it home.”