Valtteri Bottas regretted the strategy adopted by Mercedes after not having the slightest chance of winning the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix. Toto Wolff tried to respond to the Finn, saying that nothing else was possible after his botched start off the line.
“It’s disappointing, that’s for sure. It’s a good race for the team because we got some big points, but from my side, in terms of strategy, we chose to defend instead of attack, which surprised me. This is not normal. I could have hoped for better,” commented Valtteri Bottas after the Bahrain Grand Prix.
The Finn complained about the strategy adopted by Mercedes, which gave him no chance of victory in favour of Lewis Hamilton. The 31-year-old driver had to be content with third place, a long way from the top two. If Bottas’ disappointment was anything to go by, Wolff certainly tried to answer it by clearly pointing the finger back at his driver.
Reported by Motorsport.com, the Mercedes boss admitted that the German team had no other option in Bahrain, especially after seeing Charles Leclerc pass the Finn at the start:
“There was no other strategy possible. We also tried the undercut with Valtteri, I think that could have changed the outcome of his race.
“What we didn’t want to see was the loss of a starting position. Bottas couldn’t close the gap to the two leading drivers.
“His pit stop was timed to undercut Max and we probably would have made it if not for a problem with the right front wheel gun. ”
Incompetent F1 made to change regulations
FIA management of Formula 1 inaugural weekend forces changes in regulations – The ambiguity of the FIA and F1 race director Massi’s judgment of race regulations of the Bahrain GP appears to be epitomised by the F1 written press as an utter joke.
On every level this failure was arguably a miss of epic proportions….. READ MORE ON THIS STORY
It has taken an unacceptably long time for someone to finally call out the FIA on track limits. It has been blindingly obvious to the commentators, who have been too delicate to properly call it out as well. Why has it taken so long? And indeed, are we ever going to get some decent commentators? What is wrong with getting someone like Antony Davis or Paul Diresta? Siiiggghhhh.
And all of a sudden the day of reckoning for Mercedes has arrived. We all knew it would not be long before Mercedes rued the day they overlooked Russell or even Ricciardo in lieu of Bottas. Such faintness could well be the downfall of Mercedes this year. I haven’t seen such timidity in F1 team managers previously.
Wait till Jonnie the Father Christmas Herbert is back on our screens – it’ll be fast forward for most of pre and post race show