Breaking news
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP
Abu Dhabi start will be "different ball game" for Bottas
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has suggested that Valtteri Bottas has learned from his start in the Brazilian GP, and that the Finn won’t make the same mistake in Abu Dhabi, where he is again on pole position.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Nov 26, 2017, 12:26 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
At Interlagos, the Finn left space for Sebastian Vettel to slip through on the inside, and that proved a decisive move as the Ferrari driver went on to win the race.
On Sunday Bottas will have teammate Lewis Hamilton right behind him as he seeks his third victory of the 2017 season.
"His confidence has been coming back in the last races," said Wolff. "And we saw a really great qualifying in Brazil, and a great qualifying here.
"But the start [in Brazil] was certainly something he will beating him himself up about.
"The tricky bit is you don't really see in the rear mirrors, so he struggled to understand where Sebastian was, and didn't want to take any risks.
"Maybe Sunday is going to be a different ball game."
Wolff said the car was much more to Bottas' liking in Abu Dhabi, and that contributed to him beating his teammate.
"We have never doubted in Valtteri's raw speed. You could see that again today," Wolff said. "The difficulty is the interaction with the tyres and just finding the optimum set up to have the tyre in the sweet spot.
"This is something that has worked much better for Lewis, albeit also very difficult. Valtteri has hit that sweet spot today."
Asked what Bottas will have to do next season to secure the seat for 2019, Wolff said: "It is important to see that he continues what he does in the first half year, what we have seen in Brazil, what we have seen today, and then it's a no-brainer.
"We like working with Valtteri and with Lewis, the two fit well together. We have good dynamics in the team and no reason to change it if we continue on where we are today," he added.
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 Force India's name change plans compromised by 'cybersquatters'
Next article Renault not relishing Las Vegas-style fight for sixth
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 reveals date for F1 engine factory debut, thanks drivers for being “patient”
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Cadillac reveals date for F1 engine factory debut, thanks drivers for being “patient”
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’
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
Formula 1
Canadian GP
You Ask The Questions: Valtteri Bottas
More from
Mercedes
Why Monza win from 19th still isn't the best of Kimi Antonelli's dominant F1 2026 season
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
6 h
Why Monza win from 19th still isn't the best of Kimi Antonelli's dominant F1 2026 season
George Russell confused by lack of pace at F1 US GP despite upgraded W17
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
20 h
George Russell confused by lack of pace at F1 US GP despite upgraded W17
Latest news
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
Why McLaren gave team order to Oscar Piastri in F1 US GP
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Winners and losers from a frantic NASCAR Cup race at Talladega
Herta endorses IndyCar’s international return with Barcelona while marveling at Palou’s dominance
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 3 h
Herta endorses IndyCar’s international return with Barcelona while marveling at Palou’s dominance
Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
3 h
Why Chase Elliott has removed his name from NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Ballot
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