Valtteri Bottas Credits Lewis Hamilton for Steering Him in ‘Right Direction’ at Styrian GP

Valtteri Bottas will be starting the race on Sunday from the third row of the grid at the Red Bull Ring. But that wasn’t before the Finn put up a show to qualify P2, only for the 3-place grid penalty to spoil it in the end. Nevertheless, Bottas sounded quite pleased with the result and further credited Lewis Hamilton and his crew.

Apparently, Bottas had massive struggles with his car on Friday, as he claimed he was lost on how to proceed with the weekend.

And then arrived Hamilton and his crew to help the Finn figure out a proper set-up for qualifying and the race. Ultimately, it worked out as well, as Bottas defeated his teammate by a mere 0.03s.

What did Valtteri Bottas say?

During the post-qualifying press conference, Bottas opened up about how his championship-winning teammate helped him secure a decent finish to Saturday’s qualifying.

“I honestly think it was a good qualifying. I think I’ve been a little bit lost with the set-up during the weekend so far. But being able to go in the right direction with the set-up,” he said.

Formula One F1 – Steiermark Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – June 26, 2021 Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas after qualifying in second place REUTERS/Darko Vojinovic

“We’ve been working closely with Lewis as well to try to find the optimal set-up and definitely got some guidance from his side of the garage this weekend. Because I was definitely lacking a bit of pace on Friday and was a bit confused about which way to go. And yeah, we were working as a team and found the right direction.”

Bottas possibly had one of the worst Friday outings at Spielberg earlier this weekend. The Finn managed to secure P4 in FP1, but it all went haywire over FP2 when Bottas couldn’t put a lap together, as he ultimately ended up in a distant P12.

Read More: Why Do Mercedes Dominate F1?

Shame I have a penalty: Bottas

The Mercedes driver hailed an incredible qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring but pitied himself for bearing the grid penalty.

“That last lap, there were definitely not two-tenths on the table. So, I think Max and Red Bull were faster today. It was a good lap and I’m pleased for that,” he said. “Of course, it’s a shame I have the penalty but obviously the job today was to try and maximise the situation.”

Formula One F1 – Steiermark Grand Prix – Red Bull Ring, Spielberg, Styria, Austria – June 26, 2021 Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas after qualifying in second place REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Bottas hasn’t had a decent getaway at lights out in recent races. Hence, considering the fact that he is already down in P5 during the race start, Bottas will be aching to pull away quite well in a bid to keep his race-winning hopes alive.

So, will everything come together for Bottas over the race on Sunday? Will he manage to snatch what could be his first race victory of the 2021 season? Well, we’ll know soon enough.

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