Bottas surprised by team boss blame for disastrous pit stop last GP
Jun.4 - Valtteri Bottas has hit back at his Mercedes boss's suggestion that the Finnish driver was at least partly to blame for his retirement from the Monaco GP.
Bottas' rejoinder comes amid high uncertainty about whether the 31-year-old will be replaced by George Russell for 2022.
"We haven't discussed anything yet," he said on Thursday, speaking via internet link after his flight to Azerbaijan was reportedly delayed for technical reasons.
"But the moment for negotiations will definitely come - I think next month, in July. So everything will happen soon, but it's not time yet," added Bottas.
At the very same time, he is clearly not willing to simply accept boss Toto Wolff's claim that Bottas did not correctly position his car for the botched pitstop - and terminally-stuck wheel-nut - that caused his retirement at Monaco.
"I was surprised," Bottas admitted, when asked about Wolff having pointed the finger of blame.
"I looked at the video footage and, in my opinion, I was spot on."
He also revealed that he and Wolff "haven't really talked about" the incident.
"The team and I held a normal post-race briefing, we analysed the situation also with the engineers at the factory and they understood everything perfectly," Bottas insisted.
"So there was nothing unusual about the analysis of the race.
"I missed the middle line by about 2 or 3 centimetres, and if you're that accurate, that's actually pretty good," Bottas is quoted by international publications.
"We also had concerns about the pitstops for a few weeks, so the problem didn't come out of the blue."
Meanwhile, Bottas' teammate Lewis Hamilton hit reverse gear on Thursday after suggesting at Monaco that the team was mostly to blame for his poor weekend.
"You don't always say the best things in the heat of the moment," the seven time world champion admitted.
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Cereal box Dr. Toto is as full of BS as real Dr. Marko.
This BOT blaming is silly. Anyone who has ever slammed a power wrench on a nut knows that you immediately know if it is square to the nut. 2-3 cm adjustment? Well within wrist flex range.
RBR are offering training courses to anyone who feels they need some improvement in this area I hear, only one in four mechanics are able to take this wonderful opportunity though...!!!
Toto Look at the footage! The guy with the wheelgun got pushed by his fellow mechanic on the left side of the screen, while he just puts on the wrench. It's very clear to see he caused it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_io5zbI5TPY
Maybe it was Helmut Marko disguised as Mercedes Mechanic...Hahaha
Oh this is cold. Finding any excuse to blame Bottas....you know his days are numbered!
Agreed. Like there has never been another racing driver who missed the spot by 2-3 cm. and still managed a successful pitstop. Sorry Jax, but your team boss is full of b......t. The wheel man simply hit the nut wrong. I am even beginning to believe that BOT is history regardless if HAM keeps racing.
I am pretty sure that Bottas will be testing the Job Market soon, Toto seems to be creating an excuse to let him go. Bottas want to race against Hamster not just be a Blocker. With the rule changes next year catching a new F1 drive might be a good move.
maybe so , but where are the vacancies going to be?? , any team is going to be a stepdown from MB except mayb redbull THIS yr