Valtteri Bottas commented that the outcome of Sunday’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix epitomised his 2018 Formula 1 campaign as he slipped to fifth place.
Bottas started from the front row of the grid and maintained second to Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton through the first few laps, inheriting the lead when their strategies diverged.
Bottas emerged from his pit stop in second place but locked up into Turn 5 and was overhauled by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel further around the lap.
Bottas’ evening deteriorated as he was subsequently passed by both Red Bull drivers, before making a precautionary second stop that sealed his position.
It marked Bottas’ fourth successive fifth spot with which to cap a 2018 campaign that concluded with him classifying a win-less fifth in the Drivers’ Championship.
“I think the race sums up the season quite well,” said Bottas. “It started off quite well and then everything turned to s**t!
“Initially I had a lock up going into Turn 5, when Sebastian got close, so he got DRS and overtook me.
“I initially thought it was purely my mistake which, in the end it was, because the wind had suddenly changed direction and from head wind it changed to tail wind, so I would have needed to brake earlier than I did. Fair enough.
“But at the same time, the team could find some vibration on the right-rear brake and some issues.
“Sometimes the front brakes had to work harder than the rear brakes, to compensate and that meant there were sudden lock ups.
“The same thing happened when I went straight and [Max] Verstappen got close.
“We still need to investigate what exactly was the issue with the brakes.
“When I had the touch with Max I got quite a bit of floor damage, that I’ve just seen when I came out of the car, so that made the end of the race quite difficult.”
Bottas’ win-less year meant he became the first Mercedes driver to fail to mount the top step since Michael Schumacher in 2012.
