After a tough weekend at Imola, the Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas had a phenomenal start at the Heineken Grande Prémio De Portugal 2021.
The 31-year-old Finn had a disastrous accident with Williams’ George Russell which led to Bottas’ disqualification from the Emilia Romagna GP. Moreover, the Mercedes (77) W12 was in terrible condition.
The Mercedes W12 of Valtteri Bottas was heavily damaged after the crash with George Russell from Williams Racing at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday, April 18, 2021.
However, Bottas returned to the F1 circuit with his ride and showcased some outstanding performance at the FP1 session. The Finn finished at pole ahead of his teammate Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull drivers. The Mercedes driver finished the first half of the Friday session at 1:19.648 minutes.
A good start to the weekend for @ValtteriBottas 👏
And nice work from @callum_ilott on his F1 track debut👍#PortugueseGP 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/ZjmflTF0XM
— Formula 1 (@F1) April 30, 2021
Expectations from Valtteri Bottas at Portugal
The Finnish racer is one of the best Formula One drivers currently. He has already shown the buffs what he can do with a single-seater cockpit. Subsequently, the driver finished P3 in the season opener and also won an extra point for the fastest lap.
The Silver Arrow driver continued his stratrgic racing at Imola, acing the F1 and F2 sessions. However, Bottas dropped his pace since the Saturday session and finished eighth at Imola Q3. The 31-year-old Finn further mentioned having issues with the tyres but it seems he had no troubles at Imola. Hence, it is still early to predict that Bottas can keep his pace throughout the weekend in Portugal.
Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes AMG F1 driving at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve during the Portugal Grand Prix FP 1 on Friday, April 30, 2021.
Currently, Bottas ranks P5 at the 2021 Drivers Standing with 16 points. Meanwhile, his British teammate Lewis Hamilton is leading the table with 44 points.
The Valtteri Bottas will again go behind the wheels of the Mercedes (77) W12 for the FP2 on Friday, April 30. We might expect him to ace another practice session and might also get to the podium on the race day, May 02.
