Valtteri Bottas admits second place isn't what he wanted after falling short of challenging Charles Leclerc at the Italian Grand Prix.
A late arrival to the battle for victory in Monza, the Finn tried to use fresher tyres to catch and pass the Monegasque and teammate Lewis Hamilton in the closing laps
The latter would be easy after Hamilton out-braked himself into the first chicane and fell behind taking the escape road, but the Ferrari would be too strong as Leclerc held on for a memorable win.
“I think we had a good strategy. We had some opportunities at the end,” Bottas reflected.
“I'm gutted. I was trying everything I could to get him [Leclerc] but there was no way past. Always when I was getting close I was locking because of the lack of downforce. They're so quick in the straights as well.
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“I tried. I think it was the best we could do today," he added.
“It was really difficult. We tried everything we could, with the engine modes and everything. Not quite enough.”
A first positive result against Hamilton since Austria does at least see him reduce the gap in the championship to 62 points, but more importantly, it consolidates his second place ahead of Max Verstappen with the gap now 36 points heading to Singapore.
