Bottas ‘key’ to start from pole against Verstappen

Unlike the Italian Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas enjoy all the advantages of winning the Sprint Qualifying in Brazil. In addition to scoring three points, the pilot Mercedes also took pole position in the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Second on the grid, Bottas opted for an aggressive strategy by putting on soft tires and the bet paid off: at the start, the Finn took off better than the first, Max Verstappen, and inherited the lead from the first turn. Once installed in the lead, Bottas was no longer worried until the checkered flag, despite the start of degradation of his red-sided envelopes.

Asked by Felipe massa When he got out of his car, Bottas felt that the pole position acquired this Saturday had been played out during this successful start. “I think the departure was the key today”, commented the Mercedes driver. “We also made a little bet with the soft tire. We knew we were going to benefit from it at the start and it worked. Then we just had to try to survive until the end, it was quite difficult but Max has when even had difficulty following me around some corners so I’m glad everything worked out perfectly. “

For his part, Verstappen was more conservative in his strategy by taking part in the sprint with medium tires, less efficient than soft tires but more enduring. In addition to having been passed by Bottas when the lights went out, the pilot Red Bull was also deleted by Carlos Sainz a few meters further.

Thus, Verstappen was little surprised by his lack of performance at the start: “The start was not the best but we were on a harder compound of course. So it didn’t help us. It was not easy to put energy in the tires, especially here [à Interlagos]. “

The Dutchman however had the opportunity to reclaim the top position when Bottas’s pace slackened. Back within a second of the Finn, which allowed him to activate his DRS in a straight line, Verstappen quickly surrendered due to the aerodynamic disturbances. The dirty air created by the number 77 W12 did not allow it to get close enough in the last sector to take advantage of the DRS advantage in the main straight.

“I think the pace was very good but here, once you get close to someone, you can’t overtake them”, lamented Verstappen. “You know, [les Mercedes] are fast in a straight line so you really have to make your last turn to be able to overtake [au premier virage] but that was not possible today. We will try again tomorrow. “