- Italian GP - Race
Bottas: Start may have cost shot at victory
Valtteri Bottas admits he will be left wondering what might have been after his hopes of victory went up in smoke after a woeful start off the line at the Italian Grand Prix.
Bottas was quietly confident he could mix it with Mercedes after Williams' promising Friday pace and qualifying third on the grid. But Bottas went backwards off the line, dropping to 11th as he struggled with wheel spin, something he thinks could be down to an aggressive clutch delivery.
"Compared to the grip I had available in the tyres I think we were a bit aggressive with the clutch," Bottas said. "The start for the formation lap when we always do the final checks was compromised because Lewis [Hamilton] had a slow getaway so that maybe hurt a little bit.
"Definitely the tyres were not in the optimum window and maybe for that condition we were a bit too aggressive, I had a poor start but the same thing continued after Turn 2 - just wheel spinning after Turn 2. After the poor start the position I was in the chicane was a bit lucky, I couldn't accelerate at the maximum rate. That really compromised the race for me."
Bottas had recovered to fourth by his first pit stop and he says his pace in clear air suggests he could have mixed it with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in front.
"They seemed to be really strong, I don't know if they were on the limit or not with engine modes and everything. Even though in the long prime stint I had, even though for the first 20 laps I was fighting, when I got some clean air I could keep more or less similar pace to them so that will be a question-mark forever I think. It's a pity because today I came into the race with the mentality that this was the best chance of the season to fight for the win, so fourth is not really that satisfying."
After getting back to fourth, Bottas had to do it all again after regaining at the back of a train of cars, something he admits was down to the timing of his pit stop.
"I think one lap too late but obviously Felipe [Massa] had the priority because he was in front. I had to wait for him to stop and then I did, it meant it put me really on the limit with Vettel with our cold tyres. A few cars came past so we lost some time but in terms of how many points we got as a team that didn't cost us anything today. "It's not easy when you are out with a new prime on a shiny surface and they are not fully up to temperature. I need to have a look and see if there is anything I could do better [on pit exit]. In the end it didn't cost anything but in the future is could."
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