Bottas: Important points result in Canada
Valtteri Bottas scored ‘important’ points for Alfa Romeo Sauber in Canada. Picture: XPB Images
A top 10 finish in the Canadian Grand Prix was an important result for Alfa Romeo Sauber, according to Valtteri Bottas.
The Finn landed the final points-paying place on Sunday in Montreal, finishing just 0.03s behind Lance Stroll in a drag race with the Aston Martin to the chequered flag.
It ended a run of finishes outside the top 10 that stretched back to the year’s opening race, where Bottas finished eighth in Bahrain.
His point comes off the back of two collected by team-mate Zhou Guanyu in Spain in the race prior, leaving Alfa Romeo Sauber’s tally for the year at nine – one more than Haas.
“Pleased with how today went, and I think when you make up four positions in the race, it’s a good day,” Bottas said after Sunday’s race.
“Even if it’s only a point, it’s something that important, so I’m pleased with it.”
Bottas had started the race on the hard compound tyres, gaining track position by staying out when the bulk of the field pitted on Lap 12 under the Safety Car triggered by George Russell.
He finally stopped on Lap 35, swapping onto the medium rubber for the run to the flag.
“I think it was the right call that we stayed out,” Bottas opined.
“The stint I had on the mediums was a bit too long, so I think we did well with the strategy.
“Starting with the hard tyre was a good one, so overall I don’t think there was much more we could have done.”
Bottas held ninth for much of the race’s second half before drifting backwards as his tyres began to wear, primarily graining on the front-left, in the closing laps.
That saw Lando Norris pass him on Lap 63, a loss of position that would be reversed post-race when the McLaren driver had a five-second time penalty added.
Bottas then slipped behind Stroll to take the flag 11th in the run to the line.
“It’s good to be back in the top 10; I think it was a strong race overall,” Bottas explained.
“Unfortunately, at the very end, Lance got me just before the line for a couple of extra points, but it is what it is.
“On the final straight, I ran out of battery,” he added.
“He can have it because I had a similar thing with him in Baku back in the day!”
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