Valtteri Bottas is tired of taking repeated engine penalties, saying it is not ideal to be taking them this late into the season.
Bottas took three new engines in four races, and served penalties in each one. Although he finished in the points every single time, he reckoned he could have done better without the handicap.
There is proof to back that claim, as the Finn took a dominating victory at the Turkish GP. Nevertheless, the fact remains that him taking his sixth power unit of the season is hindering him rather than doing any good.
Bottas revealed that he was tired of taking repeated engine penalties, and stressed that the two engines in his pool were good for the rest of the season.
“I really hope we’re done for now,” he said after the US GP, as quoted by Race Fans.
“I think both of the engines are good in my engine pool, they seem to be okay. We haven’t detected any issues with them.
“So fingers crossed that I can go till the end now without penalties, because the next races with a close championship battle, even if you get back (through the field) later, it really compromises the race.”
A handicap to overcome
Bottas had a frustrating US GP. Having taken a five-place penalty on Sunday, he started the race from ninth position. He finished the race in sixth place, but revealed that it was not easy to achieve a great result at COTA.
“It was difficult like I expected,” he continued.
“What made it more tricky was in the first stint I was behind the AlphaTauri and I couldn’t get past, so I obviously lost quite of bit of time.
“Unfortunately, there was no help from Safety Cars. I made some progress, but slowly,” he concluded.
Read more: Allison full of praise for Bottas – “It was a majestic performance”