34-year-old F1 driver admits he ‘can’t accept’ Bahrain Grand Prix result

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Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber driver Valtteri Bottas has admitted that his team couldn’t accept the result in Bahrain last weekend despite taking positive steps forward.

The 34-year-old Finn was eliminated in the first stage of qualifying before a disappointing result last Saturday in Sakhir.

Speaking at the pre-race driver’s press conference in Saudi Arabia, Bottas urged his team to keep pushing to improve.

Bottas urges Stake F1 to improve after Bahrain result

It’s safe to say that Valtteri Bottas didn’t have a particularly lucky start to the 2024 Formula 1 season.

He out-qualified Zhou Guanyu by one-thousandth of a second, but both cars failed to reach Q2.

Bottas had a stellar start in Bahrain but was caught behind a spinning Lance Stroll after the Canadian was tagged by Nico Hulkenberg.

From there, he was driving a recovery race, but when he entered the pits any hopes of catching his nearest rivals were over.

A 52-second stop caused by a faulty wheel nut and only Logan Sargeant’s technical issue with his steering wheel prevented the Finn from finishing last.

On the other side of the garage, Zhou had a much more positive race and if any of the top five teams had suffered a retirement, he would have scored a point.

Bottas has urged Sauber to continue working hard and suggested that the result in Bahrain can’t play into their thinking.

Martin Brundle suggested last week that their car drove like a limousine in Bahrain.

It may have looked very smooth, but wasn’t necessarily quick.

Stake F1 still have work to do in 2024

Speaking about last weekend’s race, Bottas said: “It’s a bit of a different feeling, everything looks different but also the mindset is getting to where it should be.

“So, there’s lots of hope with this current package, still lots to unlock and I think that’s what keeps people excited and motivated.

Asked to elaborate, Bottas continued: “I think we can’t have the mindset that we can be satisfied with certain results.

“For example, the result last weekend, we can’t accept that that’s where we are. We always need to try for more.

“I think that’s the thing that we always need to push for, something further and something beyond what we are achieving at the moment.”

Bottas is a race-winning driver and it’s no surprise that after his result in Bahrain, he’s demanding more from his team.

He’s entering the final year of his deal with Sauber, although he’s already said his ‘ideal’ next step is to stay with the team until they become Audi.

The Finn is also one of the many drivers who has been linked with a move to Mercedes.

It would be a surprise to see him replace Lewis Hamilton but stranger things have happened in Formula 1.