Bottas gets bittersweet win as he loses title: "I personally failed this year"
F1 News
- Nicolás Quarles van Ufford
Race winner Valtteri Bottas might have won the United States but left the race with a bittersweet feeling, as the Finn now officially has lost out on the championship as teammate Lewis Hamilton finished in second place.
Bottas is enjoying the best year of his F1 career to date as he clinched his fourth win of the season in the United States after getting his fifth pole position of the year on Saturday.
Still, it wasn't enough, as Hamilton only needed four points at the Circuit of the Americas to officially claim his sixth drivers' championship as he becomes the second driver in history to reach that number after Michael Schumacher.
After the race, Bottas was both happy as well as disappointed, as he has been perfect on the weekend but not good enough across the whole season.
"It's a nice win," the 30-year-old told Martin Brundle on the grid.
"It feels good. It's felt very good since yesterday in the car.
"We had strong pace. It was the only thing I could focus on and do this weekend."
He did exactly that as he got both pole position as well as the win, even overtaking Hamilton for the race lead in the final laps as the Brit was on very old tyres.
However happy he was with the win itself, he was also quick to proclaim his year overall wasn't good enough.
"It was not enough and Lewis got the title.
"Big congrats to Lewis. I personally failed with my target this year but there is always next year. He deserves it, he had a strong season."