Bottas says 'clutch-slip' impeded launch off the grid

Valtteri Bottas says "a bit of clutch-slip" impeded his launch off the grid from pole position in Sao Paulo which in turn set the Mercedes driver up for a "nightmare" opening lap.

As the winner of Saturday's sprint event, Bottas had the privilege of leading the field on race day, but when the light went out, the Finn was overhauled in short order by Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

"I think Max had a really good start, I think mine was, let’s say, average," Bottas said. "I was hoping that would be enough to maintain the lead, but he was ahead of me going into Turn 1.

"My issue was a bit of clutch-slip, a bit too much, like the grip was good but just didn’t drive out really good, so we’ll have a look.

"Into Turn 1, I tried to brake as late as I could. We were side-by-side, and I was off the track at some point but, like I said, he was ahead, so not so much to do."

Unfortunately, Bottas' botched start put him in the clutches of Verstappen's teammate Sergio Perez, which led to a tussle between the two drivers in the following corners.

"Then, obviously getting a bad exit from Turn 3, defending Checo into Turn 4, he was on the outside, I was inside and yeah, went a bit wide and he got me," Bottas added.

"So for me lap one was a bit of a nightmare because, like this morning, one person after another kept telling me what to do in the first lap and how important it is and for me it was like… it was terrible."

As he settled in to his race, Bottas ceded third to a charging Hamilton, but relied on running a longer first stint compared to his direct rivals to try and regain the upper hand.

And for once, luck was on the Finn's side when a Virtual Saferty Car was activated while he was leading which led to a pitstop during which he lost a minimum of time to those on track.

• Read also: F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2021 Sao Paulo GP

However, Bottas was less enthusiastic about Mercedes' decision to pit him again on lap 41 as he believed that the team could have pulled off a 1-2 by leaving him on a one-stop strategy.

"I have to say, [it] even surprised me a little bit, like how good the pace we had was towards the end of the stints," he said.

"I had a feeling because on the first stop, for me, it was quite late, that it should have been one-stop, so I'm still thinking I should have been possibly second with a one-stop, but we'll have a look."

Bottas, who will depart Mercedes at the end of this season, was full of praise for Hamilton's remarkable performance and the "incredible job" done by his team overall.

"I have to say it’s so good seeing Lewis winning this race from where we started – like I feel Lewis was in his own league today and this weekend, so it was an incredible job," he said.

"But obviously I didn’t give up, kept pushing, and still managed to get to the podium. It means we get more points than Red Bull and that’s something."

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