Breaking news
Formula 1 United States GP
Bottas: Denying Hamilton win/title combo "feels good"
Valtteri Bottas says it "feels good" to deny teammate Lewis Hamilton the chance to win the Formula 1 title with victory in the United States Grand Prix.
Scott Mitchell
Edited: Nov 4, 2019, 5:27 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Poleman Bottas passed Hamilton on track with five laps remaining after falling behind because he committed to a two-stop strategy while Mercedes kept Hamilton on a one-stopper.
A fourth victory of 2019 was not enough to keep Bottas in championship contention, as Hamilton wrapped up his sixth crown with two races remaining, but his second win in three races has guaranteed him the runner-up position in the championship and confirmed his best-ever career finish.
“This weekend, winning it was the only thing I could do to try to maintain the title hopes or delay them,” said Bottas when asked by Motorsport.com if victory took the sting away from his title defeat.
“I did my part. Which feels good. But Lewis was still strong this weekend as he always is.
“Quite mixed feelings really, as an individual weekend it was strong. But on the other hand, being best of the rest doesn’t feel good.
“You always need to look at the positives as well. It’s my best season in F1 so far so that’s good. Looking at other positives, I’ve made huge gains in many areas in terms of race pace.
“But winning the race in this way… Lewis, I’m sure he really wanted to win the title by winning the race. I could stop that. So that feels good.”
Read Also:
- Leclerc says Verstappen's Ferrari engine claims "a joke"
- Ferrari explains dip in straightline speed at Austin
- Kvyat: Perez clash penalty "stupid" and "unacceptable"
Bottas has more poles than Hamilton in 2019, with five to four, and trails him by just one podium finish (15 to 16).
However, Hamilton has scored six more victories, which makes up the bulk of Bottas’s 67-point deficit, as Hamilton has tended to have better performance on Sundays.
For PRIME users:
Bottas said catching and passing Hamilton in their first proper fight was pleasing despite being forced off-track at one point.
“I was closing in, there was some traffic ahead, Lewis had a bit of a mistake into Turn 11 so I could get this first opportunity,” said Bottas. “He covered the inside, I had to take the outside line, I was ahead but he braked very late.
“I had to run off the track to avoid the collision but it’s fine, because if I was in his position I would have done the same.
“The other opportunity he went a bit wide in Turn 8 or 9 so I could get very close before the back straight. Then it was a bit more straightforward.”
Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes AMG W10, take the chequered flag at the finish
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Leclerc hits back at Verstappen's Ferrari allegations
Next article Kvyat: Perez clash penalty "stupid" and "unacceptable"
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Scott Mitchell
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jan 3, 2020
Alfa Romeo must do better in "chaotic" races - Vasseur
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jan 3, 2020
Honda: Verstappen relationship 'like a young Senna'
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Formula 1
Formula 1 Jan 3, 2020
Key team personnel shouldn't be F1 boss - Ferrari
Latest news
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
11 min
Why aerodynamics will become "even more important" under 2027 MotoGP regulations
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
1 h
Sebastien Bourdais hopes latest WEC success will remind teams of his value
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Sao Paulo GP
3 h
"It's horribly painful" - Williams drops 2026 car upgrades to benefit 2027
Feature
Discover prime content
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Formula 1
By Kevin Turner
Top 10 F1 cars of the 1970s
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe