Wolff backs Bottas to recover after China blunder

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has offered a lenient view on Valtteri Bottas' disappointing China Grand Prix and his driver's rookie mistake.

Bottas launched his race form P3 on the grid and initially held his own. But after stopping for dry tyres, he spun behind the Safety Car, a mistake which sent him all the way down to 12th and compromised his afternoon.

"He threw it away behind the safety car," Wolff said.

"He just needs to recover from that now. It was very slippery out there and he lost it – and that's when the race was gone.

"[But] it's the second race of the season, there are 18 more – analyse and forget it."

• Bottas takes the blame for botched race

Bottas admitted the mishap had been his own fault entirely, and one without which he would have undoubtedly fought for a spot on the podium.

"You could see during the race that he had the pace," Wolff added.

"He was doing Lewis's lap times at various stages, but once you're losing so many positions and you're not in the leading pack anymore, and you have to recover mentally, that is very difficult.

"He certainly has the character to recover from such a situation."

GALLERY: All the pictures from Sunday in Shanghai

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter