No problems with Mercedes relationship after terse radio messages, says Bottas

Valtteri Bottas has denied the terse radio messages between him and Mercedes during the French Grand Prix indicated his relationship with the team has become strained.

After making an early first pit stop, Bottas dropped out of the podium places, complaining on his radio the team hadn’t responded to his recommendation they make a second tyre change.

Following his discussions with the team Bottas said he “understands more things” about how his strategy was decided but remains convinced there was room for improvement.

“Obviously when you’re in the car you have a bit limited view on the race situation,” he said. “So it was important to go through everything, as we always do. So I do understand the situation better.

“But still, the fact is, in the situation where I was with my tyres at that point, it was suboptimal. But we can’t go back in time and we always keep learning.

“The main thing always if there’s a disappointment and if the driver or the team is unhappy, the solution is always to to go through it very honestly and learn from those things.”

Bottas’ future at the team is in doubt as they are known to be considering replacing him with George Russell. However he denied his relationship with the team has broken down.

“That perception is completely false,” he said. “We have a good relationship with the team and there’s no issues.

“Those kind of situations that are normal I’m sure that not all the things being discussed in the past and what has brought us this far as a team is always being direct and always being honest on your feelings and if you feel there’s a place for improvement. So it’s nothing new and everything is good.”

Mercedes indicated they will take more notice of his feedback in the future, Bottas said.

“As a driver in terms of communication and feedback and requests, we always learn. I think maybe we need to be more direct, but I feel like they understood that, yes, they definitely should listen.

“We live and learn. So I think in the future things will be better.”

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