Valtteri Bottas has owned up to his spin under the safety car during the Chinese Grand Prix, saying he is “very disappointed” with his race.
The Finn started third and held position early on, before losing a few spots in the early pitstops during the safety car.
In cool conditions, Bottas tried to heat his tyres up under safety car conditions but spun and dropped to 12th. The new Mercedes driver says it was all his fault and cost him a lot of points.
“I'm very disappointed with today,” he admitted. “I made a good start but it didn't go so well from there.
“Yes, we lost some time in the pit stop but it was nothing compared to what we lost with my mistake.
“I was trying everything I could to get temperature in the tyres behind the safety car but went too aggressive and lost control of the car.
“It was entirely my fault. I'm really sorry for the team and the points we lost today. It took few laps to get the tyres working after the spin but in the end my pace was okay.
“I think we made the right choice sticking with the Soft tyre for the second stint. The car was good today – a winning car, obviously.
“But the laps were running out as I was getting closer to the cars in front and I couldn't recover enough of the time I lost.
“I'm leaving for Bahrain tonight and I'm glad the next race comes soon. Once you've done a mistake it's done, so you try to forget it and do everything you can to make up for it next time.”
