Valtteri Bottas admits he must make significant improvements in order to keep his hopes of winning the 2020 Championship alive.
The Finn currently sits 47 points behind teammate Lewis Hamilton in the drivers’ standings and endured a difficult race last time out at the Italian Grand Prix, crossing the line in fifth place.
Hamilton was issued a major penalty while leading the race at Monza, forcing him to the back of the field for the second half of the race and gifting Bottas an opportunity to close the Championship gap.
However, Hamilton finished only two positions behind Bottas at the chequered flag, with the latter admitting he needs to find a sizeable boost to stay competitive.
“It could have been a much worse day,” Bottas said.
“If I were now, before the weekend, in the championship lead, I would have been more satisfied with this, because I would been gaining on the main competitors.
“But I’m chasing and I need to make bigger gains if I still want to keep the title hopes there. I feel it was a missed opportunity as it could have been better and a win.”
New power unit restrictions at Monza prevented teams from using ‘party mode’ after practice, a setting that provides a significant upgrade in power output.
After starting the race on the front row, Bottas slipped back into sixth place on the opening lap and failed to recover, stating the new engine regulations played a part in his disappointing result.
“I think that’s its partially due to the regulations that you’re running in constant mode, in terms of defending and attacking, so maybe there’s less overtaking because of that,” he said.
“Even in Monza the DRS effect is quite small, because the wing is smaller too and you have less drag, anyway.
“For me the main issue was trying to get close enough to the other cars to overtake and get a massive tow.
“But it was pretty much impossible to overtake any car that I was following.”
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