Breaking news
Formula 1 Hungarian GP
Bottas: Hungary a "perfect example" of teammate harmony
Valtteri Bottas says that the Hungarian GP place swap with Lewis Hamilton was a "perfect example" of how Formula 1 teams can benefit from a good relationship between their drivers.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Aug 1, 2017, 12:12 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Finn, who partners Hamilton at Mercedes, said he was already feeling more integrated with the team than at the start of the season, and that Hungary was another step in the process.
"For sure, having done now 11 races with the team definitely you are more part of the team than after just a couple of races," he said. "I'm feeling very much part of the team. The teammate relationship with have with Lewis is really good.
"It was a perfect example of what you can do when you have that trust, when you have that respect within teammates.
"The team can really rely on both of you to try things like this today. It's only going to get better."
Bottas admitted that, having fallen back from Hamilton and with Max Verstappen catching fast, he was worried that the exchange of places wouldn't happen after all.
"I think when it was two laps to go I asked: 'When are we going to do the swap?'
"The team said that I just have to get a bit of a gap to Max and we'll do it at the end, and so we did. I was trusting the team. They told me at the beginning that if I let him go and he can't do it, we'll swap. When the team say something like that, it's going to happen.
"Max was not far behind with a fresh set of tyres, so that made it even more tricky. We managed to do it in the end. I'm really glad.
"We know that, for sure, it's not easy for Lewis to give up a podium place on the last lap, but that was kind of the deal, and really respect for that. Not every teammate would do that, I think. That shows that Lewis is a real team player as well.
"As a team we tried to maximise today with that kind of swapping, we unfortunately couldn't gain anything. But we tried, and it was the right thing to do."
While he couldn't keep up with the leading trio in the closing laps of the Hungary race, Bottas believes that was mainly down to traffic.
"They were going two Ferraris and Lewis as a train, once one guy lets them past, then all three cars get through then quite easily.
"And then as there was a bit of gap between us - they [the traffic] always got stuck in front of me for one and a half lap.
"It's so easy on this track to lose the rhythm, or if you need to overtake a guy over the marbles, then you lose nearly one lap to clear the tyres again.
"That was kind of my issue. I don't think there was much of a pace difference between me and Lewis today in normal conditions."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hungary F1 test: Vandoorne edges Leclerc on opening morning
Next article Top statistics from the Hungarian GP
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Valtteri Bottas
Cadillac’s F1 brakes are still a problem: ‘I had to lift and coast on lap two’
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Cadillac’s F1 brakes are still a problem: ‘I had to lift and coast on lap two’
Valtteri Bottas completes three-day jungle ride to Singapore GP: "Your mind starts to play games at night"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Valtteri Bottas completes three-day jungle ride to Singapore GP: "Your mind starts to play games at night"
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
Formula 1
Canadian GP
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
More from
Mercedes
Mercedes: “We had people who hadn’t done a live pitstop for 15 years” in Singapore GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
2 h
Mercedes: “We had people who hadn’t done a live pitstop for 15 years” in Singapore GP
Christian Horner: Kimi Antonelli has 'earned' the right to be Mercedes' number one
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
6 h
Christian Horner: Kimi Antonelli has 'earned' the right to be Mercedes' number one
Latest news
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
29 min
FIA expects F1 races in Qatar and Abu Dhabi to continue as planned
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 31 min
TDS Racing doubles down on IMSA program with two-car LMP2 return
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Singapore GP
51 min
Why Isack Hadjar doesn’t like F1 sprints anymore
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
NASCAR O'Reilly
NOAP NASCAR O'Reilly
Phoenix II
1 h
Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen to race for JR Motorsports again in 2027
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe