EC83 Wrote:
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> It was a brilliant performance all weekend by
> Bottas, the kind of performance I did think he was
> capable of but hadn't managed to hook up sooner.
> Hopefully he can build on this and have a really
> strong 2014.
I'd rate it as comfortably his best performance of the season and that includes qualifying 3rd at Canada
(which had the benefit of a car setup which erred towards the wet conditions).He beat on merit at least four cars which by rights should have been ahead of him
(eight if you want to milk it; Rosberg, button, Ricciardo, Massa, Kovalainen, Vernge, Gutierrez, di Resta)His pace was strong all weekend, he got through to Q3, including setting the pace in Q1 and he qualified above the level of the car even if a scrappy lap in Q3 cost him one or two positions. Following a period of conservative tyre management
(with exception of the leading trio) he was the fastest driver in the closing laps of the race which ensured that Rosberg never got close enough to challenge him and he was closing in on Perez.
This race also went towards addressing some of his race craft issues. His start was "ordinary" but it saw him pass Kovalainen and he was assertive at the first corner which helped him maintain position on the first lap and get his tyres up-to temperature. Thanks to his strong pace he was never overtaken nor lapped and so no time was lost in the physical act of losing track position and he also dealt with overtaking Gutierrez in a mature way, it would have been extremely easy to lose a wing there (
Maldonaldo).
His tyre management was good, though perhaps a little bit too conservative as in the second stint he lost a lot of time to the cars ahead whilst he was looking after the tyres, although this tactic did provide him the tools to manage Rosberg behind him and thus maintain 8th which was arguably more important than challenging for 7th.
Along with Grosjean's it was one of the drives of the day, and leagues ahead of team-mate Maldonaldo.