Bottas: Mercedes told me to push harder before crash
Bottas: Mercedes told me to push harder before crash
Valtteri Bottas has revealed that Mercedes were urging him to keep pushing his car as much as possible in order to catch Max Verstappen in the moments before he crashed out of the German Grand Prix.
The wet conditions at the Hockenheimring caused mayhem all day on Sunday as drivers struggled to generate enough grip on their tyres. Particularly troublesome was Turn 16 just before the end of the lap, as the run-off area featured a slick tarmac which resulted in numerous drivers venturing to the left.
Lewis Hamilton, Carlos Sainz, and Kimi Raikkonen all lost control at the corner in a similar fashion to Bottas, but the Finn’s car suffered by far the most damage.
At the time of the incident, he was fighting Verstappen for P1, and he admits he was perhaps too overzealous in his attempts to make up the ground, even if his engineers told him too be aggressive.
“I learned a lot,” he said after the race.
“I made a mistake myself but the team also told me to push hard to get to the podium. Obviously I pushed a bit too much in that corner and lost the rear-end.
“My mistake. Maybe I should have tried to stay more calm and take my time. Maybe if I didn't try that hard I wouldn't have made it to the podium, but at least I could have got some points which would have been important.”
Hulkenberg: 'Insane' Turn 16 tarmac cost Renault big in German GPRead more
Bottas reckons that mistakes are always possible in those conditions, but his goal is always to avoid them as much as possible, in every race.
These kind of conditions. It is so easy to make a mistake,” the Mercedes man continued.
“I should have done the race without mistakes, that's always the goal.
“But it happened at the wrong time, in the wrong corner.
Luckily for the Finn, Hamilton finished outside of the top 10 and didn’t earn a point, meaning the gap to the top of the championship remains the same for the moment.
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
F1 Flags Explained: What do the different colours mean?
- 3 minutes ago
McLaren boss explains why FIA REVERSED Norris F1 penalty
- 59 minutes ago
FIA CANCEL important drivers' meeting after huge drama in China
- 2 hours ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull and Verstappen dealt title blow as Red Bull dominated in sprint qualifying
- 2 hours ago
FIA stewards ROB Hamilton pole after bizarre U-turn
- Today 10:58
F1 Sprint Qualifying Results: Chinese Grand Prix 2024 times as Verstappen stunned in rainy CHAOS
- Today 10:27
Related news
Schumacher slams Germany's bleak F1 future as self-inflicted 'CATASTROPHE'
Has Germany fallen out of love with F1?
Nürburgring Eifel Grand Prix to be broadcast free on YouTube
Hockenheim in talks to fill in if Silverstone falls
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