Mercedes: Valtteri Bottas knew 'you've just blown it' - Toto Wolff

Hungarian GP

Bottas knew 'you've just blown it' - Wolff

Martin Macdonald

Sunday 4 August 2019 17:42

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff believes Valtteri Bottas knew right away he had blown his chances of winning the Hungarian Grand Prix after he made early contact with Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, forcing him into an early pitstop.

The Finn was only a hundredth of a second away from taking pole position in qualifying, and started second on the grid. However, the collision with his team-mate and a Ferrari saw him have the worst possible start as his forced pit put him down to 20th.

He recovered to eighth, but Wolff says his driver knew right away his chances had gone.

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“I'm really disappointed for him, because he was all pumped. Yesterday's qualifying performance was great - he could have easily been on pole,” the Austrian said after the race in Budapest.

“He wanted to do particularly well then it went all wrong. Touching with Lewis and touching with Leclerc, I there is nothing more to expect from anybody because you know, you've just blown it.”

The performance was another blow to Bottas’ chances of extending his deal with Mercedes to earn a seat next year, but Wolff refused to confirm or deny whether it would play a part in any decision, insisting talks will take place internally.

“I don't think we want to make it dependant from one bad day,” the Silver Arrows boss continued.

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“We need to look at all of the data, consider lots of factors which speak for him and speak against him.

“I don't want a discussion about if he's staying or not, it's not right. He has had some great inputs with the team and we want to discuss it behind closed doors.

“What's the merit of having a young one in the team? With all the risk and reward.

“What's the merit of having Valtteri in the team? With all the risk and reward.”

Bottas remains in second place in the drivers’ championship, with Max Verstappen closing the gap to 22 points from third.