Valtteri Bottas believes his change to a one-stop approach could have paid dividends at the Spanish Grand Prix, before his exit due to a suspected engine problem.
Bottas, having survived contact with Kimi Räikkönen at Turn 1, drifted behind Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, at which stage it was decided to move Bottas to a one-stopper.
Bottas switched tyres on lap 26 but retired soon after, with smoke trailing from his Mercedes W08.
The Finn was using the engine which had completed the opening four races, leaving him out of sync with Hamilton, following a problem overnight on Friday.
![Aston Martin managed its first race finish of 2026 with Fernando Alonso [behind] completing the distance](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Aston-Martin-Honda-Japanese-GP-120x86.webp)
“I was feeling good today, I didn’t think about it at all to be honest,” he said of using his old engine.
“The problem was the beginning of the stint I didn’t have enough pace, so we changed the strategy and tried to go one-stop.
“It could have paid off with the two cars in front, Lewis and Seb, [but] they got nearly a free stop with the Virtual Safety Car.
“In the end, it was unlucky with the engine, we thought it could do one more race but it seems it couldn’t take it anymore.”
On the first corner contact, Bottas said: “I tried to carry speed but for sure we didn’t collide on purpose, it’s a shame we collided, it was very unlucky for those guys, just a small touch really.”
![Aston Martin managed its first race finish of 2026 with Fernando Alonso [behind] completing the distance](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Aston-Martin-Honda-Japanese-GP-350x250.webp)
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