Valtteri Bottas says the misfortune he has encountered in Formula 1 this season resembles a “bad joke” after he was forced out of the Austrian Grand Prix.
Bottas took pole position in Austria but relinquished the lead during a frantic start as he slipped to fourth, before regaining some ground to quickly re-take second, behind team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
But Bottas’ chance of a strong haul of points disappeared when his W09 suffered from a loss of hydraulic pressure on lap 14 of 71, forcing him out of the race.
The early exit relegated Bottas to sixth in the standings.
It marks the latest in a series of setbacks in a difficult campaign in which Bottas’ pace has not been reflected in the results.
Bottas was poised for victory in China until a mid-race Safety Car brought Daniel Ricciardo into play, while in Azerbaijan a tyre failure three laps home denied him the win.
Bottas also lost points in France last weekend when he was spun on the opening lap by Sebastian Vettel, and the Finn was left to lament his latest setback.
“The luck I'm having this year feels like a bit of a bad joke at the moment,” he said.
“My start was not ideal; I had quite a bit of wheel spin and there was less grip than we expected, so I dropped a few places.
“Going into Turn 3, I could recover two places and was back in second place.
“After that the car felt strong, we were running well, but then I suddenly experienced a loss of hydraulic pressure.
“There was nothing I could have done to prevent the DNF. We need to investigate and find the cause of the issues we had today, but I'm sure we will recover from this result.
“I guess it was just not meant to be today – but one day it will be.”
