"Gutted" Bottas felt "I had lost the championship" in Hamilton defeat

Valtteri Bottas claimed he felt "like I lost the championship", after his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton missed out on the F1 world title in dramatic fashion at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Bottas finished sixth at Yas Marina as Mercedes clinched the constructors' championship title, but within the team there was fury after the chequered flag fell with Hamilton missing out on the world title following a final-lap shootout with Max Verstappen.

"Getting the constructors' is huge but at the same time it hurts that Lewis didn't get the drivers'. Even for me, I feel like I lost the championship," said Bottas.

"I really feel gutted for him because I believe he deserved it. He had a great start, a great race and then things change like this but that is the sport, we know that is how it goes.

"Sometimes it goes against [you], sometimes it goes for you but today was not our day."

Asked of the confusing circumstances with the safety car procedure in the closing stages, Bottas added: "For sure, it looked like it could have been done better.

"I'm sure they make the decisions for safety and if there is a car sideways next to the barrier that was mainly on the track, you need to have a safety car. So just unlucky."

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