“The whole team was suffering,” Valtteri Bottas recounts the painful memory of Lewis Hamilton losing the 2021 F1 World Championship at Abu Dhabi
Valtteri Bottas gets candid about the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the latest F1 podcast.
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Valtteri Bottas & Lewis Hamilton. Image via Daily Express.
Two years ago, the world witnessed the most controversial race in Formula 1. Mercedes legend Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull beast Max Verstappen went full throttle in Abu Dhabi. While Hamilton was fighting for his record-breaking eighth title, Verstappen was hunting for his maiden World Championship. Both the teams were desperate to win and the last lap decided the 2021 Formula 1 world champion.
Hamilton had a lead over Verstappen. But, former Williams driver Nicholas Latifi crashed and brought out the safety car. Micheal Masi, former F1 race director, allowed a “select” number of lapped cars to unlap themselves. This changed everything. Verstappen had an advantage and went on to win his first Formula 1 title. It was a dark day for Hamilton and his supporters.
Valtteri Bottas, Hamilton’s teammate back then, spoke about his last race for Mercedes. In a podcast, F1:Beyond The Grid, he revealed, “It was painful [AD21], the whole team was really suffering. Lewis was down, Toto was down, even though we won the constructors. When you lose the driver’s title like that on the last lap it was unreal.”
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton share a good relationship
Bottas added, “It was a big big disappointment for everybody, and it took a while to recover from it.” He went on to say it was not his best memory. Though Bottas moved to Alfa Romeo after spending five years with Mercedes, his relationship with Hamilton did not change. The duo are still mates. They even share flights to races.
Bottas revealed in the podcast that he believes Lewis Hamilton is the fastest driver on the grid. He stated, “Lewis is the fastest teammate I’ve ever had and I think he’s still the fastest driver on the whole grid, ahead of Max and Charles for me he’s at the top.”
The 33-year-old praised Hamilton. He revealed that the Briton works hard and is mostly the last driver to leave the track.
It has been a while. Valtteri Bottas is no longer the same person he was in Mercedes. The Finn is cooler and calmer and has a new approach to racing. From fighting for podiums he is now fighting for points. However, he is highly motivated and does not plan to leave Formula 1 anytime soon. His move from Mercedes did him more good than bad.
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Sugantha Meena
(493 Articles Published)