Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas said he was surprised at team principal Toto Wolff's comments that he was at fault for the botched pit stop at Monaco.
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Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas said he was surprised at team principal Toto Wolff’s comments that he was at fault for the botched pit stop at Monaco. Bottas was forced to retire from the Monaco GP due to mechanics being unable to remove his front right wheel. Later it was discovered the teeth of the wheel nut got sawed off during the stop. As a result, it was not possible to remove at the time. But Wolff in an interview claimed Bottas stopped a earlier than he was supposed to in the pits. Thus, the mechanic applied the gun at an angle and that made the problems worse.
“I saw the video and, for me, it was pretty spot-on where I stopped. So I was quite surprised.”
Bottas added, however, that him and Wolff hadn’t yet had a conversation about this.
“Not really, (we) kind of left it there.”
Bottas said it took him time to come to terms with the way his race ended. He is now 58 points behind Monaco GP winner and championship leader Max Verstappen.
“Personally for me it took a couple of days, I have to say, because it’s not been the best start of the season. That kind of an issue, when it hits you, and obviously when your target is to get some good points, it’s disappointing.
“But I got over it, I’ve found my ways to get through it and I’m keen to race again.”
The wheel was eventually removed on the Tuesday after the race at Mercedes’ factory. The team has painstakingly studied the failed pit stop to guard against a repeat, Bottas added.
“The main thing, first, was it was nice to hear when we got it off. And of course, we as a team had to maximise the learning from it.
“There was a detailed analysis, of course, what happened, why it happened, how can we prevent that ever happening again in the future.
“So it’s really all about learning the issue and correcting it. So I think the team fully understands it now and we’ve made corrections for that and hopefully don’t have to experience it again.”
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