Formula 1 | Bottas on the podium in Monaco? ‘Never say never’
Valtteri Bottas arrived in Monaco full of confidence this weekend. The Finn has consistently finished in the points this season, except in Jeddah due to a mechanical problem, and recorded a fourth-place finish as his best result at Imola.
Could he aim even higher this weekend, namely a place on the podium? Why not according to the Alfa Romeo F1 driver, if everything goes perfectly.
“You need a perfect weekend if you want a good one” Bottas said. “I’ve had good weekends and bad weekends here, we need some uneventful practice sessions, even if it hasn’t happened in a while in the, but it would be nice. We will have to then see how the car handles and how fast it is.”
“But if everything lines up, never say never. I think it’s a good goal and a good motivation for the whole team to know that it’s possible, but of course everything has to go perfectly. Of course, we will have to start with good qualifications.”
If Bottas could not have done anything against the Ferrari of Sainz and the Mercedes of Hamilton at the end of the race in Barcelona, he is convinced of having a real opportunity in Monaco.
“Yes, I think we have a great opportunity this weekend. It’s a unique circuit and it’s always difficult to know what to expect – how the car is going to handle – but on paper I would say it’s “It’s better than Barcelona because we’re strong in the corners on loan. From that point of view, it’s promising.”
Alfa Romeo F1 has battled the Mercedes on the track several times this season, and Bottas says that boosts morale even further.
“It’s a very good motivation for us, as a team, to be able to fight with the big teams. It’s very encouraging and the same goes for me. We want to take care of every detail so that It’s happening more and more often.”
The Finnish driver is however a happy man at Alfa Romeo F1 this year.
“Everything is going well, it’s been a good start to the season, both in qualifying and in the race and I’m happy to be able to try to be the best version of myself when I’m behind the wheel.”
“The team members are doing their best and that’s also very inspiring for me and it pushes me to do even more.”
“Of course, that doesn’t mean we don’t have some things to improve. We’re still working on our race starts, because it wasn’t great at that level. We’re also working on the stability of the car. But on a personal level everything is fine, although you can always do better.”