“As a team, we got solid points” – Valtteri Bottas is doing all he can to help Mercedes retain the constructors’ championship before he makes the move to Alfa Romeo next season.
Valtteri Bottas had a pretty uneventful Dutch GP by his own admission, starting and finishing P3. To make things interesting, he attempted to take the bonus point for the fastest lap right at the end but eventually conceded it to his teammate Lewis Hamilton.
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“Unfortunately, for me, pretty uneventful. I kept pushing but we were trying to one-stop, so I went for a long first stint and tried to survive with the tyres until the end.
“At the end, we had quite a big gap behind me, so we just made a stop to be safe. We tried but we just didn’t have enough pace today.
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“I didn’t go for the fastest lap, but Lewis got it. I’m happy that as a team we got solid points.”
Toto Wolff feels for Valtteri Bottas
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff found Bottas’ “cheeky” move to take the fastest lap understandable but is happy he handed it over to his teammate eventually, as he defends his title against the menacing Max Verstappen.
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“It was a bit cheeky but understandable. Valtteri is always on the receiving end because this championship is so tight.
“He lifted off massively in the last sector, and it was clear that Lewis would do the quickest lap and Valtteri knew about it.
“At the end, Lewis, in his fight for the drivers’ championship, got the point and it is all good.”