Formula 1 legend and team Mercedes driver, Valtteri Bottas stated that he struggled a lot to get Pirelli’s softest F1 tyre compound “into the window” in the Friday practice session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Bottas managed to secure a safe place in FP2 that is 0.203s clear of Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton thanks to the softest F1 tyre compound.
Lewis Hamilton had briefly went on top of the charts on the soft tyres but unfortunately, he ran wide at the final corner and thus had his time deleted for exceeding track limits.
“It was tricky,” Bottas said. “I didn’t really get the softs into the window today, personally. In my opening lap I didn’t really have any grip at the start of the lap, they were kind of bellow the window in terms of temperature, then on the following lap they were overheating massively, so there’s work to do there because, from my side, the medium actually felt like the better tyre and it shouldn’t be that way.”
Bottas added “It was good. Two good practice sessions, the car felt immediately good but, as always, there’s still work to do with the balance and the main issue is to get balance together throughout the lap.
Also See: Pirelli: 2021 F1 Tyre Criticism Was Due To Miscommunication
“In some corners I’m struggling with the front end, in some other corners I’m struggling with the rear end but, overall, it’s not far off, as the lap time shows.”
Lewis Hamilton is feeling his best and is back in action after missing last weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix as he tested positive for COVID-19. It was heart-warming and fun to watch Bottas and Hamilton wave at each other during FP1 while out on track, expressing their happiness.
“Yes, nice to see him healthy and back, for sure you don’t wish anyone to have that virus and, apparently, it was not that mild, so it’s good to see him happy and back in the car.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was asked as to how the season is going to end for Mercedes. His reply was that he and his team is confident that they can produce good results this weekend to end the season on a high.
Also See: What Tyres Are Allotted For The 2020 F1 Abu Dhabi GP?
“I think it’s important for him to come out of this strong and go into the winter with some tailwind,” Wolff said. “He knows how to get himself in a good place. He’s such a hard, tough Finn so there is the slump - I just see it in his eyes that is going to be much better.”
