Why Bottas was faced with an impossible task of making it through the field in Sochi

Bottas got a new engine for the Sunday race and moved up to 16th place on the grid, just ahead of other drivers who had received fines – including Max Verstappen in 20th place.

While the move was necessary after the Finn had a problem with his newest engine on Friday, it also opened up a tactical opportunity for him to cover and potentially jeopardize Verstappen’s expected progress in the field.

However, Bottas was overtaken by Verstappen after just six laps. While the Dutchman made up other positions, Bottas remained firm and could not repeat his advance to third place, which he had made in Monza.

Before the rain in the final stages of the race, Verstappen was in seventh place, while Bottas languished in 14th place. An early move to the intermediates, however, let him jump up to fifth place.

“It was a lot harder for me than I thought just to get through the field. I thought it was going to be like Monza, but it was a lot more difficult, ”he said.

“Like Max, for example, he was able to develop much better than me. I do not know. Above all, I had to struggle with severe understeer, and that was the moment when I was close and couldn’t overtake the distance. “

When asked if he could have done more to hold Verstappen back, he said, “He could just really get through the field.

“I have to see if I could have done more, but I think he passed me pretty easily. I think he then overtook the cars in front of me and I had no chance. “

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Andrew Shovlin, Head of Mercedes Track Engineers, explained that the understeer was favored by the lower race day temperatures and that Bottas reduced his chances of staying close to his competitors.

“Above all that the cooler conditions made the front tires heavy,” he explained. “We understeered a bit. While the rear axles were the axle that suffered the most on Friday, it was the front axle here.

“And if you can’t follow the last four corners, you can’t get close enough to overtake, but it really was because of the car’s balance. I think the cooler conditions make it more difficult rather than easier. “

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, who hurried Bottas on the radio, admitted that the team could have done more.

“I think we need to give Valtteri a car and a drive unit to overtake,” he said. “You saw that he wasn’t lacking in skills because Monza was spectacular.

“It’s just here, for whatever reason, you saw with Lewis at the beginning that our car was struggling with understeer. If you’re struggling with understeer, you’re not getting close enough.

“And Lewis couldn’t overtake the guys in front of him, and so did Valtteri. I think we just really need to understand why the car wasn’t competitive in traffic and felt good in the open air. “