Valtteri Bottas had a difficult day at the Brazilian Grand Prix, after he finished in eleventh in very tricky conditions.
The Williams Martini Racing driver lost track position when the first red flag penalised his early switch to intermediate tyres – Bottas was briefly in tenth in two separate occasions – but failed to hold this position as he remained on intermediate’s when full wets were the required tyre, but he made up two places on the final laps to finish just outside the points in eleventh when conditions again improved.
With team-mate Felipe Massa having to retire after crashing out, their main rival in the Constructors’ Championship, Sahara Force India F1 Team scored a lot more points in Brazil, meaning there are now 27 points between the two teams as they head to the final race in Abu Dhabi in two weekends time.
Bottas believes the Grove-based outfit were unlucky at the Autódromo José Carlos Pace with their strategy, despite it looking potential.
“It was a very difficult day in very difficult conditions,” said Bottas. “We managed to keep the car in one piece but it wasn’t easy.
“We had quite a lot of potential with the strategy, but in the end the intermediate tyres starting working a bit too late for us. It’s a shame that Force India got a lot more points than us, so it’s going to be tricky in Abu Dhabi.
“We were just really unlucky today with the timing of our strategy. It’s been amazing to see the support here for Felipe and I’m sure he really appreciated it. We’ll enjoy Abu Dhabi.”
