Breaking news
Formula 1 Chinese GP
Bottas avoided clash in "brutal" Ricciardo pass - Mercedes
Some clever driving from Valtteri Bottas was all that avoided a race-changing clash with Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of the Chinese GP, according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.
Andrew van Leeuwen
Edited: Apr 16, 2018, 11:08 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Ricciardo stormed to an unlikely win in China, making the most of a set fresh of soft-compound rubber in the closing stages thanks to a strategic gamble from his Red Bull crew.
It was a spectacular charge too, with impressive moves on Kimi Raikkonen, Lewis Hamilton, and Sebastian Vettel before an inch-perfect play for the lead down the inside of Bottas into Turn 6 with 12 laps to go.
Having conceded that it was an impressive drive from off-contract Ricciardo, Wolff was keen to point out that the "brutal" pass for the lead only worked thanks to some clever cooperation from Bottas.
Had the Finn not left just enough room, Wolff is convinced they would have collided given how committed Ricciardo was to the corner.
"Daniel is one of the very good drivers, and he proved it again," said Wolff. "He was very efficient, he was able to wait for his opportunity, he was aggressive when it was needed. Overall [it was] a very good race for him.
"Maybe the manoeuvre on Valtteri was a bit... brutal. But it proved to work. He had Valtteri helping him with that, to avoid a collision. But that is racing and great."
Wolff added that Bottas' performance in the race was the silver lining on a difficult weekend for the Mercedes crew.
"The only thing I see positive is Valtteri's race," he said. "That was really awesome. No mistakes. Unlucky with the Safety Car.
"Even with the Ricciardo overtake, if Valtteri wouldn't have opened the door last minute Ricciardo would have taken him out.
"He's the only one who was without fault [in the race]."
According to Bottas, the door being left ajar was a combination of not wanting to compromise the exit of Turn 6, and a sense of inevitability that Ricciardo was going to get by anyway.
"He was really closing in quickly and a big pace difference," said the Finn.
"They had a really strong car today and on top of that fresh tyres at that point so seeing the pace he disappeared afterwards, it think it was only a matter of time.
"By that situation I was going to defend into Turn 6, so it was a bit of a compromise how extreme you go with it, you go very extreme, he's definitely going to get you at the exit if he can choose the line behind you.
"He tends to find space from inside even while you defend and it was just a matter of time."
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 FIA expects more caution from Verstappen in future
Next article Chinese GP statistics: Hamilton sets new points record
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Andrew van Leeuwen
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Dakar
Dakar
Dakar
Toby Price explains 'unfortunate' Mitsubishi split
Supercars parity review begins
Supercars
Supercars
Supercars parity review begins
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
GT World Challenge Australia
GT World Challenge Australia
SRO set for bigger Australian GT presence
More from
Daniel Ricciardo
Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"
Formula 1
Formula 1
Barcelona-Catalunya GP
Daniel Ricciardo shares heartfelt message after first Indy 500 visit brought back "childhood feelings"
Lando Norris reunites with Daniel Ricciardo for Indy 500 celebrations after disastrous Canadian GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Lando Norris reunites with Daniel Ricciardo for Indy 500 celebrations after disastrous Canadian GP
Daniel Ricciardo says life feels "more real" after abrupt F1 exit
Formula 1
Formula 1
Canadian GP
Daniel Ricciardo says life feels "more real" after abrupt F1 exit
More from
Mercedes
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
Portimão
5 h
Max Verstappen stars with 15-place charge in 45 minutes: 'I learned a lot and had fun'
Latest news
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
WEC
WEC WEC
Barcelona
22 min
WEC Barcelona: Toyota scores dominant 1-2 to seal manufacturers’ title
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
NASCAR Truck
NSTR NASCAR Truck
Phoenix
31 min
Hailie Deegan eying NASCAR Truck return but future plans remain uncertain
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
General
When Can-Am made its controversial comeback
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Japanese GP
3 h
Yamaha boss on MotoGP changes under Liberty: 'We must be careful not to lose our fans'
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