Valtteri Bottas allowed himself a roar of delight on Saturday when he claimed pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix after Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton had crashed out of contention
Valtteri Bottas allowed himself a roar of delight on Saturday when he claimed pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix after Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton had crashed out of contention. The Finn, 28, said he was delighted to succeed because he had promised to take pole to boost spirits in the team after some members had been robbed at gunpoint on Friday when they left the track in a mini-bus.
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Valtteri Bottas
"I spoke with them this morning and I said we were going to put it on pole position and cheer everyone up, so I'm glad we did that," said Bottas. "First of all, I'm happy everyone is in one piece and nothing physical happened to anyone, but it was a pretty bad situation to be in and I'm happy everybody is still here." Bottas' pole brought to an end a difficult period during which he had slid out of contention for the drivers' championship. "For sure, it has been more difficult, sometimes better, but that's how it goes in racing," added Bottas.