Bottas: Why does nobody listen to me?

After winning the Battle of the Wingmen on Saturday at Paul Ricard Circuit, Bottas qualified third beating his Red Bull counterpart Sergio Perez but in the race the Mexican got the better of the Mercedes driver.

Bottas was clearly irate late in the race when he radioed his team: "Why does nobody listen to me when I said this was going to be a two-stopper?"

He later told reporters after the race: "The winning strategy was a two-stop. As a team, we were too focused on the one-stop. I had no tyres, so I was just trying to get the car home. It was no fun today.

"You feel like a sitting duck. Quite simple. I tried to get a podium but no joy. Another learning point this weekend. We thought with the cooler temperatures the tyres would last, but they didn't. If I did a two-stop, I would've been fighting for the race and for the podium. For sure."

He added in the team report: "I gave it everything I could to try and finish on the podium, we thought with the cooler temperatures the tyres would hold on for longer but they didn't, our predictions in terms of tyre life didn't quite match the reality.

"I was one of the first to stop for the Hard tyre, my front-left tyre wear was quite high and the last stint wasn't fun at all today, the last 10 laps with the Hard tyre were terrible - I had no front tyres left.

"We didn't pit for fresh tyres at the end to set the fastest lap because Sergio was under investigation, so we wanted to stay out. A disappointing race, especially because my overall pace this weekend was good but at least I got some points," reasoned Bottas.

For a driver whose future with the team is in doubt, Bottas was bolder today than he has ever been towards his team. Nevertheless, credit to him for ballsing up and speaking out as he did today; it will be interesting to see how his team reacts to the criticism.