Valtteri Bottas confirmed he was unaware of a Mercedes rule which prevented him challenging Lewis Hamilton during the Belgian Grand Prix.
The Finn was closing in on his teammate in the early laps at Spa-Francorchamps, but when asked if he could take a push lap on a higher engine mode when within a second, he was informed it was agreed that not tactic could not be used against Hamilton.
“I actually had no clue about that,” Bottas said in the parc ferme interview with Martin Brundle. “Maybe they said that but I don’t recall.”
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The best chance Valtteri should have had to attack Lewis was on the long run from La Source to Les Combes on the opening lap.
However, he was too close to Hamilton’s car entering Eau Rouge and that killed the momentum he would have had in the slipstream.
“Of course at the start, it would have been a big opportunity but I think Lewis played it pretty well,” he commented.
“He wasn’t too fast out of Turn 1 so I couldn’t really get more engine [power] to get to him and also there was tailwind going into Turn 5 so there was a bit less of a tow effect too.
“The same thing after the restart, I just couldn’t catch him on the straight. I think those were the main opportunities, otherwise, we’re in the same car and Lewis was mistake-free. It was tricky.
“I think Lewis was faultless in the race and in qualifying he was quick. He earned more points this weekend but at least it was a clean weekend for me with no big issues.
“But I definitely want those race wins and I’m just happy there is another opportunity next weekend.”
With his second place finish, Bottas moved back to within three points of Max Verstappen in third, but is now a full 50 points behind Hamilton with 10 races to go.
