Valtteri Bottas admits he was simply pacing himself to the finish after falling to fourth in the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Finn had done well to repel Max Verstappen at the start into Sainte Devote but wouldn't sustain it as the Dutchman pulled out alongside the Mercedes from his pit-stop.

Contact would result in Bottas having to stop again and resuming behind Sebastian Vettel, but a five-second penalty for Verstappen over the pit-stop release would at least promote him onto the podium.

“It was the key point and the thing that made the race more difficult,” he said post-race.

“For some reason, my stop was a bit slow. So then Max came out alongside me in the pit lane, even though he was behind before.

“We were side-by-side. I kept my line and he drifted right. We touched and then I touched the wall because there was no more space and I got a puncture.

“Honestly, I thought when I had a puncture that I was going to be at the back of the grid. Luckily I didn’t lose a lot of places so, [I was] unlucky but lucky at the same time. It could’ve been a lot worse.”

With teammate Lewis Hamilton having to manage his pace on the medium tyre it meant Bottas was able to stay close behind Vettel.

But any chance of improving his on-track position was futile. 

"It's obviously disappointing for me, I think the speed was there and I was feeling good in the car," the 29-year-old added.

"I was stuck behind, it was like a Sunday drive."