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F1 Monaco GP: Bottas felt 'unlucky' to miss out on Monaco podium

Valtteri Bottas felt "unlucky" not to finish on the podium in Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix after losing out to Red Bull Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo in a mid-race strategic battle.

Bottas came close to scoring his second F1 pole for Mercedes on Saturday, qualifying third just 0.045 seconds behind pole-sitter Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari.

Bottas spent the early part of the race running third before being pitted to cover Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who had been close behind in fourth prior to the stop.

Bottas emerged ahead of Verstappen, only for the pair to struggle through traffic around Monaco's tight streets, allowing Ricciardo - who had been fifth before the stops - to jump up to third after running longer in clear air.

A late-race mistake from Ricciardo gave Bottas a glimpse of third in the closing stages, but the Finn ultimately had to settle for P4 at the line.

"For sure it's disappointing because I think third was possible today," Bottas said. "But we were definitely more unlucky, as well, compared to the Red Bull and Ricciardo.

"While I was stuck behind [Carlos] Sainz, overheating the brakes and managing that, Daniel was setting up good laps. I also think the pace of Red Bull was quite strong as well, they could really challenge, they saw the opportunity and they took it.

"For us, for sure, it's disappointing to lose a few points like that and we're definitely not happy with the amount of points we are leaving Monaco with."

With Bottas' team-mate Lewis Hamilton finishing seventh, Mercedes lost the lead of the F1 constructors' championship in Monaco after Ferrari scored a one-two finish, pulling 17 points clear in the standings.

Zdroj: crash.net