Bottas in somewhat embarrassing situation; 'could be overtaken by a Williams'

Valtteri Bottas did not have the best weekend in Imola. The Mercedes driver started from eighth place, which is not really where you expect this car to be, especially when you look at teammate Lewis Hamilton, who started from pole position. Bottas struggled throughout the race and to make matters worse George Russell hit him and the race was over for both drivers.

Conclusions too quickly

Russell initially blamed Bottas, but the young Williams driver drew his conclusions too quickly. He later backtracked on that and would still call Bottas to explain the collision. Opinions are divided, but generally Russell is being blamed in this case.

That has also been the subject of much discussion, but former F1 driver Jolyon Palmer mentioned on the Chequered Flag podcast another situation in between the lines, namely the situation in which Bottas was in. It is a known fact that Williams is a team that can hardly fight for the points and when they do it is a small miracle.

Terrible race

This was the case with Russell last Sunday and it provides a particular contrast. Williams is a rearguard team and Mercedes is a top team. They should not be fighting each other at all, the differences are too big for that. What is clear is that Bottas had a really bad weekend. Not only in qualifying, but also during the race.

Palmer: "Bottas had a horrible race – to be in a position where he could be passed by a Williams isn’t great." And that's an interesting point that, in terms of discussion, has been snowed under by the accident that occurred afterwards. After all, Russell wanted to overtake Bottas, but that went wrong. Leaving that discussion aside, it is still remarkable that Bottas was in that position at all and that the fight was for the points.