The 2018 Russian Grand Prix was undoubtedly one of the most heartbreaking races for Mercedes F1 driver Valtteri Bottas, who saw the wrath of team orders. Ultimately, it cost the Finn his race victory, as he had to be satisfied with P2 up to this point, despite the pole position and the technical leadership of the race.
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Interestingly, after this race, Bottas asked if he should continue driving in F1. After Bottas managed to get through the tough 2018 season, he claimed he was dying to call the team and tell them he was done with racing.
What did Valtteri Bottas say?
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In an episode of Netflix’s Drive to Survive season 3, Bottas mentioned the painful race in Sochi that almost cost him his career in F1. Following this, Bottas recently opened up about the same thing in an interview with GP Racing.
“I managed to survive to the end [of the season], “he said.” I was still trying to give everything I had every weekend. But when the season was over I was really tired. Physically yes, but mentally it was tough.
“By early January, I was debating whether to call the team and say, ‘OK, that’s me, job done. ‘
Formula 1 F1 – Bahrain Grand Prix – Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain – Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas after the racing pool over REUTERS / Lars Baron
“But then it was like a switch I found: Basically, I won’t give up. I had to see the big picture, that I would regret it all my life if I quit now, ”he said.
At the end of the 2018 season, Lewis Hamilton won his 5th world title. In the meantime, Bottas was in the morale and was 161 points behind his teammate in P5.
The Mercedes team orders in Sochi
From pole position, Bottas had a brilliant short break in the event of a light failure and was able to stay ahead in Turn 1 despite the long straight. The Finn was doing pretty well, keeping both Hamilton and his then rival Sebastian Vettel in check. Then came the first round of pit stops.
Bottas pitted first and drove back to P5, while Vettel pitted one lap later, followed by Hamilton on lap 15. Despite losing the place to Vettel due to the late pit stop, Hamilton managed to get on the German on the next lap to speed past.
On lap 25, Bottas received a radio message from his race engineer, in which he asked the Finn to let his team-mate pass, even though he had dominated the race until then. “You have to keep Lewis at Turn 13,” he said.
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Bottas reacted immediately and hoped to convince the team of the change in position. “I wanted to go fast on the next lap,” said Bottas. Seconds later, Bottas received a message from James Vowles.
“Valtteri, it’s James. We had a risk with Lewis against Vettel. He’s got a little blister. I had to do this to make sure we made that I understand, ”Vowles said. And that ended Bottas’ chances of winning the race in Sochi.
Bottas has since moved into his third season at Mercedes and still has to think about retirement. But this season has been comparatively tough for the Finns and it looks like it could only be a matter of time before Bottas considers retiring from F1. Could 2021 mark Bottas’ final F1 season? Only time can tell.
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