ABU DHABI — Valtteri Bottas thinks the final race of 2018 was a perfect metaphor for his entire season.
Bottas finished a distant fifth position at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix despite starting second. The Finn faded during the race and after dropping behind Sebastian Vettel, he was soon reeled in by the Red Bull drivers.
The Finn soon had to pit after Mercedes detected an issue with his car, meaning he was the only driver in the whole field to stop twice.
“I think that race sums up my season pretty well,” Bottas said. “Started well but then turns to it.
“Not ideal. It was feeling good, the pace was good, started to have some lock ups and losing ground after that. I touched with Max and had a slow puncture I think.”
While Bottas failed to score a win this season, teammate Hamilton claimed 11 victories on route to securing the championship. Bottas admits he is looking forward to the post-season winter break to refocus his efforts for the 2019 season.
“For sure it has been on my mind but after this kind of season I don’t have the energy to look too far away. I’m just going to take it easy for a while and then I start to look forward. For now it’s just difficult to see the positives but I will.”