Bottas: « but d***, why isn’t anyone listening to me? »
Frustration seems to be getting the better of Valtteri Bottas, who didn't hide that he was not happy with the strategy adopted by his team. A rare outburst from the Finn.
To say that the start of Valtteri Bottas’s season is not satisfactory is an understatement. The Finn has not yet secured a single victory but, more importantly, has never been in a position to even contend for one. Two weeks ago, he was once again invisible and finished outside the points in a normal manner. This marked his third blank result following his retirements in Imola (collision with George Russell) and Monaco (issues during his pit stop).
This weekend, on the Paul Ricard circuit, the Finn was unable to reach the podium despite starting third on the grid. He held this position for a long time before having to bow to Sergio Perez’s comeback at the end of the race.
However, the Finn feels that he was not helped by his team’s strategy, even though he was convinced of the superiority of a two-stop race. He then made a rare media appearance on the radio: “
But damn, why don’t they listen to me when I say it’s going to be a two-stop race? Damn it!
We knew very little about this frustrated and annoyed side of the second Mercedes driver.
On the Sky Sports F1 microphone, he persevered in this direction, believing he was in his right: “I think the winning strategy was with two pit stops. It’s easy to say now but that’s how it is. As a team, we focused too much on a single pit stop thinking it was the best strategy but it wasn’t the case.”
He could only observe that the return of Sergio Perez, who had managed to extend his first stint and therefore benefited from fresh tires at the end of the race: « I didn’t have any front grip in the last 10-15 laps. I was just trying to bring the car home. The last stint wasn’t fun.
Equally interesting is to note Toto Wolff’s reaction on Canal+ when he was questioned about the subject: “Finally, he is speaking up! It’s a good thing that he is getting angry, showing that he is frustrated.”
To see what will happen in the coming weeks and if the skilled Austrian communicator is not simply waiting to meet his protégé face to face to let him know the true depth of his thoughts.
