Can it be said that Valtteri Bottas cost Lewis Hamilton his eighth F1 world title? According to Marc Surer, the answer is indirectly yes, as the Swiss believes that Sergio Pérez fulfilled his role as second driver at Red Bull much better.
For the former driver of the category, a clear example of his reasoning is the last Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Bottas started sixth, lost ground at the start and then could never be a key factor during the race as he was unable to advance in the middle of the race. platoon.
“Under normal circumstances, Bottas should have been in second position at the time Max Verstappen pitted for new tires during the safety car period. Then Max would not have gotten it (the title),” Surer said. .
“Overtaking two cars in one lap would not have been possible, but the reality is that Bottas was nowhere,” added Surer in a clear criticism of the Mercedes driver in an interview with Formel1.de , sister publication of Motorsport.com .
The 70-year-old Swiss added that the Finn has big deficits when overtaking other cars on track: “Bottas is really a losing driver in traffic. He always gets stuck and finds it incredibly difficult to overtake. The guy just can’t overtake. to other cars that are more than a second slower than the fastest car on the grid. That’s their weakness.”
On the other hand, and leaving the criticism a little behind, Marc Surer acknowledged that he sees the Finn one step ahead of “Checo” Pérez in terms of pure speed: “He always hits a lap, and sometimes he hits so much that he himself is ahead of Lewis Hamilton. He can do it, and that is precisely the weak point of Pérez”.
Marc Surer is currently a Formula 1 commentator, a category in which he contested 82 Grand Prix between 1979 and 1986.
