Bottas: Angry radio message in French GP didn't go too far
Mercedes Formula 1 driver Valtteri Bottas believes he didn't go too far with his angry team radio message during the French Grand Prix, in which he slammed the team's one-stop strategy.
Bottas was looking strong in the opening stages of the race at Paul Ricard, shadowing Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in third.
Leader Verstappen came in for a second stop for medium tyres on lap 32, which proved the optimal strategy for the race.
Knowing it would lose the race by default if it were to follow Red Bull's strategy, Mercedes decided to leave both Hamilton and Bottas out until the end of the race on worn hard tyres.
For Hamilton, that gamble nearly worked as he managed to keep Verstappen at bay until the penultimate lap, when the Dutchman swooped past.
In Bottas' case however, the one-stopper left him vulnerable to both Verstappen and the second Red Bull of Sergio Perez, who overtook him to grab the final podium spot.
Realising his race was compromised by the one-stop strategy, Bottas reacted angrily on the Mercedes team radio, shouting: "Why the f*ck does no one listen to me when I say it's going to be a two-stopper?!" F***ing hell."
After the race, Bottas explained that his anger surfaced because the team didn't opt for a two stop strategy - which turned out to be the winning one - as he struggled to keep his tyres alive until the end.
"I think the winning strategy today was a two-stop. It is easy to say afterwards but that is how it is," Bottas told Sky Sports F1.
"As a team I think we were too focussed on completing the one stop thinking it was the best but it wasn't.
"I had no front tyres left for the last 10-15 laps so it was really just trying to get the car home. It was not fun the last stint."
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12 and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B battle
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
When asked by Autosport if his radio message went a bit too far, Bottas said he was just speaking his mind about what he thought was happening.
"I was making very clear what I was thinking," he added. "I was suggesting a two-stop earlier in the race but the team went one-stop and here we are."
Bottas said he was a "sitting duck" as both Verstappen and Perez easily passed him in the final stint.
"You feel like a sitting duck, it is quite simple," he explained.
"Of course, I tried everything I could. I tried to finish on the podium but the tyres were completely gone so [I had] no chance.
"I think we thought the tyres would last a lot better than they did, I think that was the biggest thing. We thought the hard tyre could do nearly the whole race but that was not the case."
When asked if his Mercedes team could have done more for him today, Bottas said his strategy prevented him from fighting for victory: "If I did a two-stop for sure we would have been on the podium and fighting for the win."
Related video
Previous article
Mercedes had "no choice" but to pit Bottas first in French GP
Next article
Sainz: Ferrari’s F1 tyre degradation twice as bad as rivals in France
Verstappen v Hamilton: Who was at fault?
Formula 1: Sprint Qualifying analysis
The F1 champion who became an Indy king in his second career
Emerson Fittipaldi’s decision to go racing with his brother led to him falling out of F1, but he bloomed again on the IndyCar scene. NIGEL ROEBUCK considers a career of two halves
Why Mercedes is pleased to be in the Hungary hunt at a 'Red Bull track'
Mercedes ended Friday practice at the Hungaroring with a clear gap to Red Bull thanks to Valtteri Bottas’s pace in topping FP2. But there are other reasons why the Black Arrows squad feels satisfied with its progress so far at a track many Formula 1 observers reckon favours Red Bull overall
How Red Bull endured its second car crash in two weeks
OPINION: Red Bull was justified to be upset that Lewis Hamilton survived his British GP clash with Max Verstappen and went on to win. But its attempts to lobby the FIA to reconsider the severity of Hamilton's in-race penalty were always likely to backfire, and have only succeeded in creating a PR disaster that will distract from its on-track efforts
The ‘screaming’ F1 engine future that may not be out of reach
OPINION: It wasn't just the Verstappen/Hamilton clash that had the Red Bull and Mercedes bosses at loggerheads at Silverstone, with the nature of Formula 1's 2025 engines also subject for disagreement. But hopes to have loud, emotive engines that are also environmentally friendly don't have to be opposed
The drivers that need to strike gold before F1's summer break
OPINION: Formula 1 is about to break up for summer 2021, with the title battles finely poised. But it’s not just the latest round of Max Verstappen vs Lewis Hamilton that will be worth watching this weekend in Hungary, as plenty of drivers are eying big results to change the stories of their seasons so far
How Lotus F1 uncovered, then squandered its last ‘unfair advantage’
Cast in the mould of its founder Colin Chapman, Lotus was powerful and daring but flawed – as it proved through further soaring peaks and painful troughs into the 1980s. DAMIEN SMITH examines a game-changing era
The core problems Yas Marina’s long-awaited tweaks won't address
OPINION: Changes to the layout of Abu Dhabi’s circuit aim to reverse the trend of insipid Formula 1 races there - the promoter has even described one of the new corners as “iconic”. And that, argues STUART CODLING, is one of this venue’s abiding failings
How Ferrari offered Britain's next F1 prospect what Red Bull couldn't
Last year's Formula 2 runner-up Callum Ilott could be on his way to becoming the first Briton to contest a grand prix in an Alfa Romeo since Reg Parnell in 1950. But, says OLEG KARPOV, the Ferrari Driver Academy protege is having to temper his ambition at the moment – outwardly at least…
