Bottas: My season turned to sh*t
Bottas: My season turned to sh*t
Valtteri Bottas said his disappointing run to fifth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix neatly summed up his entire 2018 season as it turned "to shit" after a promising start. Bottas ended the campaign fifth in the drivers' standings, without a win to his name all year, after another underwhelming outing in Yas Marina.
Bottas had entered the final race of the campaign with hopes of repeating last year's win from pole, but things turned sour in the second half of the race as car problems and errors helped Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo through after he had ran second.
The Finn saw likely wins in China and Baku snatched away by uncontrollable circumstances in the early stages of 2018 before he was ordered to give an apparent certain win in Russia to aid Lewis Hamilton's title bid.
After becoming just the third driver in the 21st Century to go winless across a season in a championship-winning car, Bottas was in an understandably low mood.
"Overall the race sums up the season quite well - started off quite well and then everything turns to shit," Bottas said.
"I initially had a lock-up into turn five when Sebastian got close, and then he got DRS and overtook me.
"I thought it was purely my mistake, which in the end it was, but the wind suddenly turned around, so I would've had to brake a bit earlier for the wind - fair enough.
"At the same time, the team found some vibration on the rear right brake and some issue, so sometimes the front brakes had to work harder than the rear brakes to compensate and that meant there were sudden lock-ups.
"[The] same thing happened when I went straight [at turn eight] and Verstappen got close, so we still need to investigate what was exactly the issue with the brakes."
MORE: Hamilton closes 2018 campaign with Abu Dhabi triumph
MORE: F1 Standings: Final results after Abu Dhabi GP
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Vettel announces F1 return as FIA single Mercedes out for Miami checks - GPFans F1 Recap
- 41 minutes ago
F1 team announce SHOCK signing weeks after rival departure
- 1 hour ago
Former team boss quizzed on role in Newey's Red Bull exit
- 2 hours ago
RB reveal STRIKING new livery ahead of Miami GP
- 3 hours ago
EXCLUSIVE: Insider claims F1 Academy and W Series couldn't co-exist
- Yesterday 19:57
Wolff delivers big verdict on Hamilton behaviour
- Yesterday 18:57
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860