F1 News
“The car felt better than it did last weekend” says Valtteri Bottas
- Bevan Youl
Valtteri Bottas says his Mercedes “felt better than it did last weekend” in the wet after hitting engine issues during Friday practice.
At the German Grand Prix Bottas crashed out of the race after hitting a wet patch at turn one, causing him to slide off the track and into the barriers.
The Finn looked had to sit out FP1 after running into an issue with his engine as itlost power on his first timed lap.
He cut across the bollard and entrance to the pit lane as his team made the call last second to bring him in to change his power unit.
Bottas said in Mercedes review: "During my first timed lap in FP1 I had an issue with the engine where I lost power.
“The engine went into a safety mode so I had to come back in.
“The team couldn’t find the issue immediately, so we decided to swap the Power Unit for FP2.“
With the change of engine the Finn was able to run in FP2 but because of the change of weather he could only complete three timed laps, finishing fourth with a 1:18.184, but felt better about the car in the wet conditions compared to Germany.
“We were hoping for more laps in the afternoon, but the weather conditions meant that I only got three proper timed laps in in the dry and a couple in the wet,” he added.
“But at least the car felt good on the few laps I drove it.
“I got a feel for the car balance and an idea of what we need to work on for tomorrow.
“In the wet, the car felt better than it did last weekend, with a nicer balance and more grip.
“I’m looking forward to properly starting my race weekend tomorrow."