F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Bottas relieved by success of 'damage limitation'

After last week's comprehensive victory in the Austrian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas found himself on the back foot this weekend when F1 returned to the Red Bull Ring for the Styrian GP.

After a brake issue left him stuck in fourth place at the end of a wet qualifying on Saturday, Bottas went into Sunday's race knowing that it was all about damage limitation.

“Obviously Lewis started from the pole and had a good start,” Bottas told Sky Sports after the race. “He could really control the race and there was not as much happening as last weekend.

“Yesterday wasn’t ideal, so that’s why I couldn’t get 25 points today," he continued. "From my side, starting fourth, I think today was damage limitation. Still got good points, still leading [the championship, so it’s not too bad."

Bottas was quickly able to pass McLaren's Carlos Sainz at the start of the race for third position, but then found himself firmly stuck behind Max Verstappen.

He opted to make his pit stop later than Verstappen, which gave him the edge on tyres performance toward the finish when he made up ground on the Red Bull.

Bottas said that he had enjoyed chasing down Verstappen in the final laps and managing to get past the Red Bull with four laps to spare.

“It was a good battle with him,” he said. "I think I had quite a bit more pace at the end than him as we extended the first stint. Racing closely is always good fun.”

Despite finishing second this week, Bottas remains in the lead in the drivers championship with 43 points, six up on Hamilton - and very much looking forward to the next round in Hungary.

“I could have been more satisfied, but it’s been a not bad first couple of races," he agreed. "I’m looking forward to next week."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

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

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

Recent Posts

Verstappen pondered quitting Red Bull, but loyalty stronger

Max Verstappen admits that he pondered a future away from Red Bull earlier this season,…

8 hours ago

Sainz critical of Ferrari's execution: ‘No one’s happy today’

Carlos Sainz delivered a podium finish to Ferrari in Las Vegas, but the Spaniard was…

10 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Saturday night's action in pictures

There are two more races to go before the curtain falls on F1's 2024 campaign.…

11 hours ago

Horner: Verstappen has 'cemented' position among F1 greats

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes that Max Verstappen’s fourth F1 world championship has…

12 hours ago

Norris proud of McLaren, but title 'never really on'

Lando Norris came to Las Vegas with a mathematical chance of catching Max Verstappen in…

14 hours ago

Vasseur plays down Leclerc’s post-race radio rage

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur has brushed off Charles Leclerc’s fiery post-race radio message following…

14 hours ago