I lost the race on the first corner – Bottas

I lost the race on the first corner – Bottas

Joas van Wingerden

Sunday 12 November 2017 19:47

Valtteri Bottas has accepted full responsibility for his inability to claim the Brazil Grand Prix, insisting that it was a personal error on the first corner which cost his team the race.

With his team-mate Lewis Hamilton starting in the pitlane due to a crash in qualifying, Mercedes’ hopes were on the Finn to deliver, but he ultimately came up short to Sebastian Vettel in Interlagos.

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A slow start off the grid allowed Vettel to edge in front, and there the German stayed for the remainder of the race.

Speaking to the media afterwards, Bottas was candid about how his day panned out.

"It's my fault,” he told reporters.

“I had some wheelspin with less grip than I expected and Seb [Vettel] got the better of me. We lost the race in the first corner because the pace between us and Ferrari was pretty similar today."

The Finn also expressed a degree of concern that the gap between Mercedes and Ferrari, which has been evident from the recent Grands Prix, was much closer than he expected.

He issued a word of warning to his team, stating: "We were at a similar pace to Ferrari today, which is not good."

"We need to be ahead."