The Austrian Grand Prix was another disappointing weekend for Lewis Hamilton in his championship fight with Max Verstappen, losing fourteen points to the Dutchman at a time when it’s Hamilton who needs to make up the points on Verstappen, who is starting to run away with the championship.
Fourth is obviously not the result that Hamilton was hoping for, but its still some decent points especially considering the amount of damage that Hamilton had sustained on his car which began to worsen as the race went on.
“It’s not the result I wanted but it’s still some decent points. I sustained some damage just before I overtook Lando – the rear of the car started to feel strange and it just got worse throughout the race.”
If it wasn’t for the damage sustained, the Briton is almost certain that a second place was on the cards. If the seven-Time World-Champion is to put up more of a fight to Verstappen there needs to be improvements made to his Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team car so that the German team can return to their dominant levels that they became accustomed to during the turbo-hybrid era.
“It would have been a straightforward second place for me. Max is clear out front at the moment so we need improve our car and start performing better each weekend. The team are working incredibly hard and we need continue that so we can find performance.”
Valtteri Bottas Finishes Second With The Aid Of Team Orders
At a time when Toto Wolff is making important decisions about the occupant of next years Mercedes seat, Valtteri Bottas has done himself no harm at all with his performance in the 2021 Austrian Grand Prix.
Finishing second after starting fifth on the grid is a performance that Bottas can be more than content with, Mercedes took home a decent points haul in their constructors championship fight with Red Bull Racing, which is another positive considering the gap in pace between the two car’s.
“For me personally, P2 one place better than last week and I started from fifth so not a bad afternoon. I think as a team we got some decent points considering the gap we have to Red Bull in terms of pure pace. For me it’s nice to be on the podium again in second place and I think we really maximised what we could get today.”
Compared to the Styrian Grand Prix, Bottas found the tyres much more easier to manage which was another factor in the Finn improving one step up the podium from the Styrian Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas can’t wait for another full capacity crowd at Silverstone and has his fingers crossed that they can improve their pace so that the Finnish driver can put up a real fight for the victory.
“The tyres held on pretty well today which was a surprise. Next two weeks of hardwork and learning then Silverstone, it will be great to see the fans there and I hope we can pick up our pace to give it a real fight there.”
