“Great job by Valtteri”– Lewis Hamilton gave a bright response to Valtteri Bottas snubbing him for his 100th pole start for Sunday.
Valtteri Bottas after being at the backdrop for the last two Grand Prix, but on Saturday, he finally showed that he can still go for odd wins this year.
At Portimao, he secured a P1 start for Sunday, which obviously keeps him at an advantage for the race. And seeing his teammate elevating his game, Lewis Hamilton had praises for Bottas.
“Great job by Valtteri and a great job by our team,” says Lewis Hamilton to SkySports. “For us to be on the front row is definitely not expected, so we’ve got to be happy with that.
“I don’t think we can ever be satisfied but I’m definitely happy with the work we’re doing and the steps we are taking,” he added. Meanwhile, Hamilton took the second position start, giving Mercedes a strong advantage over Red Bull.
Predecessor happy
Often Bottas is compared against Nico Rosberg, who genuinely challenged Hamilton in the hybrid era. In contrast, the Finnish hasn’t managed to give similar opposition to his teammate.
But after the qualifying, Rosberg himself lauded Bottas for his performance at Portimao. Interestingly, Rosberg, this year dismissed Bottas, making any challenge to Hamilton.
“It was the ultimate challenge out there. Let’s hand it to Valtteri though. He put it all together, when it mattered. Great job by him,” said Rosberg to SkySports.
But securing a P1 start is not everything, as the track conditions are a bit challenging, and Bottas could concede his lead if he doesn’t remain cautious.
Meanwhile, Verstappen was also not happy with his performance on Saturday, and he will surely try to compensate for it on Sunday. Last time, he instantly took the dead form P3 start, but this time there will be no rain to assist him.
