34-year-old driver didn’t even know Sprint Race was finishing in Brazil this weekend

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Alfa Romeo driver Valtteri Bottas was left frustrated at the end of the Sprint Race in Brazil as he didn’t realise he was about to take the chequered flag.

A video from the official Formula 1 website showcased some of the more interesting bits of team radio from Sao Paulo.

The communications between teams and drivers are always fascinating and typically very emotionally charged.

For example, Lewis Hamilton on Sunday’s race was very frustrated with Mercedes’s strategy although there’s little they could do about how slow their car was.

Key information isn’t always easy to deliver while racers are driving over 200 miles an hour at times.

In one example during the Sprint Race, Valtteri Bottas didn’t even know he was about to cross the line for the last time in Brazil.

This would have been especially frustrating for the experienced Finn as he was chasing down Nico Hulkenberg.

Not that an extra lap or two would have helped the 34-year-old considering where he ended up this weekend.

Bottas unaware Sprint Race was ending in Brazil

Featured on Formula 1’s montage of the best comments made over the radio, Bottas’s engineer said: “Ok Valtteri [Bottas], that was the chequered flag, go to Mode 8.”

A confused Bottas replied: “I didn’t know that was the last lap!”

Unfortunately for Bottas, he was racing Hulkenberg for 18^th and 19^th place on Saturday and he would have needed a lot longer than one more lap to trouble the points scorers.

It’s been a really difficult season for Alfa Romeo who now find themselves ninth in the Constructors’ Championship.

They’re only four points above Haas and although AlphaTauri are just five points above them, it’s hard to see them challenging for points in Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi.

After a tough Sprint Race in Brazil, Bottas and Zhou Guanyu fared even worse in Sunday’s main event.

Both cars were forced to retire and couldn’t take advantage of some of their main rivals crashing out on the first lap.

Zhou and Bottas have both been retained for 2024 but will know they need to improve to hold onto their seats beyond next season.

Theo Pourchaire looks set to win Formula 2 this year and will be eager to get into F1 as quickly as possible.

With the exciting Frenchman waiting in the wings, the pressure is already on before next season begins.