It was laborious to overlook Valtteri Bottas both out of the automotive, sporting his eighties-vintage Keke Rosberg mullet and moustache, or contained in the day-glo inexperienced Sauber. Sadly his performances invariably did not catch the attention, which was extra because of the high quality of his {hardware} than his driving.
You’d be forgiven for failing to note him in any respect till the ultimate race of the season, the place he knocked Sergio Perez right into a spin throughout what proved the ultimate race for each drivers. But when Perez conspicuously did not carry out within the quickest automotive final 12 months, Bottas struggled to catch the attention in any respect in the slowest.
It might need been a unique story had Sauber’s operation been sharper in the beginning of the season. The group skilled issues with their pit tools over the opening races, which scuppered their drivers’ hopes of nabbing factors finishes early within the season after they had been barely extra aggressive. Bottas suffered pricey pit delays in Australia and Japan, the latter following a very sturdy end in qualifying.
Single-lap efficiency was the place Bottas’s worth to Sauber was most evident. He out-qualified his much less skilled group mate Zhou Guanyu frequently, and confirmed Sauber the true tempo of their automotive, nevertheless insufficient it usually was. True, Bottas was normally the primary one to get the group’s upgrades, but it surely didn’t at all times assist him because the group generally discovered their new elements didn’t carry out as anticipated. Nor did it assist issues that Bottas abruptly acquired a brand new race engineer quickly after the beginning of the season, because it took some time for the partnership to gel.
Valtteri Bottas
| Greatest | Worst | |
|---|---|---|
| GP begin | 9 | 19 (x4) |
| GP end | 11 | 19 (x2) |
| Factors | 0 | |
Different niggles stood in the best way at instances. Bottas was working one place outdoors the factors in China when his energy unit let him down. He made daring technique calls in tough situations at Montreal, for no reward.
Bottas’s begins have usually been a weak spot of his. Once more final 12 months he appeared too timid at instances, shedding treasured locations on the opening lap. Because the season wore on, for a very long time it seemed as if he may go away F1 final within the standings.
That didn’t occur, however he did miss the possibility to attain Sauber’s solely factors end, which Zhou grabbed in Qatar. Bottas’s race was spoiled when he was hit by Lawson, then later struck particles whereas he was being lapped. That mixture of misfortune in an uncompetitive automotive summed up his depressing season.
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