Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport’s Valtteri Bottas has described the Hungarian Grand Prix as a “tough race”, as he lost position at the start after his car went into anti-stall, dropping him down to sixth place from second. The Finn was forced to redo his start, leaving him on the back foot for the the whole of the grand prix.
Going into the race starting in second, at the front row of the grid, Bottas was confident he would be able to challenge his team-mate and pole man, Lewis Hamilton, for the victory.
“That was a tough race. Obviously starting second on the grid, you aim to win the race, but I had a bad start and lost a few positions. I reacted to a light on my dash that went off, instead of the start lights, which then meant the car went into anti-stall and I had to do the start again,” he said.
Despite not getting a 1-2 finish as he would have liked, Bottas is pleased to have scored some decent points, and feels they can build on what they learnt this weekend in two weeks time when they head to Silverstone for the British Grand Prix.
“I lost some ground there and that made the race very difficult for me, as I was fighting right to the very end. It was pretty close with Max [Verstappen] and I think the gamble to pit late on was definitely worth taking, as it gave me the difference in tyre life. But it didn’t quite pay off today. Still, I scored a good haul of points and there’s plenty to learn from this weekend, heading to Silverstone.”
