Bottas not looking to back off

By Andrew Hooper
January 9 2016

 
 Bottas not looking to back off
 
Bottas & Engineer
 

In the final series of races of the 2015 Formula One season Williams Martini driver Valtteri Bottas was involved in a few on-track moments with Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen.

In both occasions Valtteri was of the opinion that it showed that he is not a driver that can simply be assumed will not fight for a position on the track. Valtteri felt that it was very much the opposite with these moments reinforcing the view that other drivers should be careful of him.

Valtteri spoke to Autosport.com of how the final series of races saw him be more aggressive in his approach to races.

Valtteri said: "Maybe the last few races I started being more aggressive

"Normally I've been known as a conservative driver, always bringing the car home.

"I still calculate every risk but at some point there is the situation where it is better not to back off.

"It can either get you a good result or in the worst case maybe some other drivers know that they shouldn't try that [because you don't give way]."

As for why he changed his approach and if his run-ins with Raikkonen played a part Valtteri said: "Maybe.

"For me, it comes quite naturally because it had not been a great season.

"I wanted to fight for every single position and I also want to prove that I can race hard and I'm not going to give up. In some cases, I'm not going to back off."

"I will keep my style as always, always calculating the risks," he added.

"If I see a clear opportunity to go for it, I go for it and don't back off."

 

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