Why Did Bottas Change Three Tyres In The F1 Bahrain GP?

Valtteri Bottas had to witness his second consecutive disastrous race after he slipped back to 14th place in the rain-affected event in Turkey, where he spun six times. The F1 Bahrain GP was also not a great race for Valtteri Bottas.

Mercedes was facing tyre issues. Both Bottas and teammate Lewis Hamilton had one set of hards and two sets of mediums left, while most of their rivals had a second set of hard compound tyres.

Bottas had slipped back right when the race started and remained in the fourth place when the race was red-flagged in the F1 Bahrain Grand Prix. When the second start was initiated, he had to pit immediately with a right front puncture picked up close to the Romain Grosjean crash site.

"Apparently I picked up the puncture between Turns 3 and 4 on the opening lap on the second start," said Bottas. "For me everything looked clean, I didn't see any debris so it was quite surprising."

Unfortunately, the set of medium tyres on which he had qualified, appeared to be wasted, and the team knew its options were limited.

Bottas had no other option but to consider that unplanned stop while the safety car pulled out, and then ran hards for the opening part of the race, hoping that it would be possible to make only one more stop. However, the hards did not last.

"Actually the first stint when I was on the hard tyre we aimed to go for one-stop at that point," he said. "Because we knew in theory it could be possible.

"But with the amount of fighting I had to do and pushing to get through the cars we saw that it was not possible, or if sit behind them and lose chunks of time.

Also See:Hamilton Among Drivers Criticising 2021-F1 Pirelli Tyres

Valtteri Bottas had to consider three tyre changes during the F1 Bahrain GP

"So it was tricky really to find the optimal thing to do, and in the end we had to do two stops, especially when we went to the medium tyre.

"The main issue was really that in the beginning there was a big train of cars all with DRS, and everyone knows it is not easy in this kind of situation, you really have to push a lot and slide around behind other cars if you want to make positions, and that way you lose tyre life. So it was not easy."

He took a set of mediums at his stop on lap 25, and then pitted again on lap 38 during the F1 Bahrain GP

He did not choose the unfavoured softs, the team took the opportunity to re-fit the medium set that he had run in qualifying and at the start of the race, but without the punctured right front. Thus his only option was to manage with the well-used tyre.

Also See:Mario Isola Responds To The Criticism Of F1 2021 tyres.

"The medium we put on at the end, we actually only changed three tyres, and it was not that old, only a few laps. The first 10 laps in the last stint felt OK, but we had some overheating.

"The drivers and cars with the hard tyres on could keep going for quite a bit longer and still able to push harder without overheating. For me the hard tyre was better."

In the closing laps he had a second puncture when running under the safety car, but fortunately he was able to cruise to the finish line without an extra stop.

"At the very end during the safety car there was another puncture on the rear tyre, I think it was rear right, and again I didn't see anything at any point.

"Obviously there was quite a bit of debris around, but some of it you can't really see it. So another unlucky race for me."

Thus, Valtteri Bottas had to change three tyres, in total during the Bahrain GP.

Also Read:Goodyear Finalizes The Tyre Specification For ETCR

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