- German GP - Race
Bottas praises Williams after 'perfect' result
Valtteri Bottas says he and Williams needed to call on all their combined skills to keep Lewis Hamilton at bay and hold on to second place at the German Grand Prix.
Only the charging Hamilton looked likely to challenge Bottas for second and was on the super-soft tyre at the end, while the Finn was on the slower soft compound. Hamilton was struggling with heavy front left degradation and could not get close enough to the Williams late on, but Bottas insists it still required a huge effort to keep the flying Mercedes at bay.
"I think today was the maximum result, we did everything perfectly," Bottas said. "I was already close with Lewis when he stopped and at that point I knew it was going to be close at the end with his newer tyres. For me it was really important to get a good exit for the straight out of turn two and three and then brake as late as possible at the hairpin. [Mercedes] were too quick today but I'm really happy that we managed to keep one of them behind, it was not easy. It required all of the input of the engineers, what to do with the input modes, and myself pushing hard."
For Bottas, second place means he has been on the podium for each of the last three races and he insists Williams' focus now has to be on competing for race victories.
"We always aim for more but for now we need to be happy with these points. Of course we were unlucky with Felipe again and couldn't get both cars in a good position. I think today was the maximum result, we did everything perfectly. Managed to keep Lewis behind me at the end which got us an extra few points but in the future we are aiming for more, this is not the maximum."
After enduring such struggles with the team in 2013 Bottas admits Williams' current form feels extra special.
"Of course I feel really grateful to be part of this. Last year we did not expect to be on the podium three times in a row. It's all down to hard work and we always keep aiming for more."
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