Valtteri Bottas appeared to find that elusive 'magic switch' during qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix when he delivered a mighty lap to claim second place on the grid and then 24-hours later the Mercedes driver was celebrating second place in the podium.
By comparison, his reigning world champion teammate Lewis Hamilton only managed fourth in qualifying and fifth in the race
Bottas spoke after the race:
Solid day’s job, best of the rest, you didn’t really have an answer, Sebastian had you covered didn’t he.
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, since lap one really they seemed to be a bit quicker all the time and they could control the race and were really pushing on it and we got into a little bit of trouble in the end, running out of fuel; that’s why Max got close in the end.
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, since lap one really they seemed to be a bit quicker all the time and they could control the race and were really pushing on it and we got into a little bit of trouble in the end, running out of fuel; that’s why Max got close in the end.
Are you satisfied with the result you got or do you think you could have done something better with that other engine you should have had this weekend?
VB: I think this was the maximum today. Yesterday was about hundredths of a second, so maybe from pole it could have been different, but from P2 today we maxed out. I’m happy for that but I’m not happy that we were behind.
VB: I think this was the maximum today. Yesterday was about hundredths of a second, so maybe from pole it could have been different, but from P2 today we maxed out. I’m happy for that but I’m not happy that we were behind.
Four times second in seven races, does that eat at the man, like we say in Finland?
VB: Yeah, second place as a driver when you really want to win races is not the best place to be – but you know, honestly from today where we started, with the start we had, with the pace we had, there was nothing more possible. That’s where we are as a team now. Ferrari was better this weekend, Red Bull very close to us, so I think today nothing we could have done better. Our car is just not quick enough, so I don’t get too upset being second but no doubt I really want to win. And there has been many occasions this year that it has been pretty close, so for sure we’ll keep pushing on that – but as a team we need to improve, and also for myself, trying to find every single little bit I can.
VB: Yeah, second place as a driver when you really want to win races is not the best place to be – but you know, honestly from today where we started, with the start we had, with the pace we had, there was nothing more possible. That’s where we are as a team now. Ferrari was better this weekend, Red Bull very close to us, so I think today nothing we could have done better. Our car is just not quick enough, so I don’t get too upset being second but no doubt I really want to win. And there has been many occasions this year that it has been pretty close, so for sure we’ll keep pushing on that – but as a team we need to improve, and also for myself, trying to find every single little bit I can.
Your thoughts on how exciting or otherwise today’s race was.
VB: For me it was, at the second place all the time, all through the race. I think Turns One and Two was quite exciting with Max, that was good fun but yeah, since then, for us, we really tried to push Ferrari in the first stint – but we just couldn’t match the pace. We used quite a bit of fuel in the first stint so had to save a lot at the end of the second stint, so yeah, pretty stable race in that way, so not that much happening. But like Seb said, for sure, we, in the case, we are always pushing everything we can. It’s not like we are getting time enough to get bored in the car. There is always something to do, and we needed to keep concentrated 100 per cent – so yeah, for sure, there will be good races, there’s no doubt it’s just we’ve had a couple of races in a row where there is not many things happening – but this year already there have been races that have been amazing to watch. I’m sure it’s going to be on the way soon.
VB: For me it was, at the second place all the time, all through the race. I think Turns One and Two was quite exciting with Max, that was good fun but yeah, since then, for us, we really tried to push Ferrari in the first stint – but we just couldn’t match the pace. We used quite a bit of fuel in the first stint so had to save a lot at the end of the second stint, so yeah, pretty stable race in that way, so not that much happening. But like Seb said, for sure, we, in the case, we are always pushing everything we can. It’s not like we are getting time enough to get bored in the car. There is always something to do, and we needed to keep concentrated 100 per cent – so yeah, for sure, there will be good races, there’s no doubt it’s just we’ve had a couple of races in a row where there is not many things happening – but this year already there have been races that have been amazing to watch. I’m sure it’s going to be on the way soon.
You have to choose the tyres well in advance of the weekend. Do you think you would have had a better chance of victory if you’d made a different choice of tyres?
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