Valtteri Bottas came fourteenth in Turkey on Sunday. Reason enough for the Finn to be disappointed and this was also expressed during the interviews after the Grand Prix, to the displeasure of many Chinese Formula 1 fans.

Wrong joke

Valtteri Bottas had a dramatic Grand Prix in Turkey. The Finn spun six times and ended up in fourteenth position at the end of the race. When the Mercedes driver came in front of the Ziggo Sport camera, he said something striking.

Ziggo Sport reporter Jack Plooij asked Bottas if he was having the worst day of his life, to which Bottas replied: "I would have liked to skip today. Or maybe the day someone bought a bat in Wuhan."

A number of Chinese fans were not happy with Bottas' statement and expressed their frustration on the Chinese platform Weibo. Some Chinese even hoped that Bottas would no longer be allowed in the country.

Support of his team

Mercedes is now trying to appease the angry fans. "Dear Chinese car fans. As we all know, sport makes us emotional, particularly with the highs and lows brought by wins and losses. Last Sunday, Valtteri had a tough and disappointing race, in which he lost the world title. He didn’t intend to offend anyone in front of the TV cameras straight after the race, and certainly meant no disrespect to China and Chinese fans," the team writes according to FormulaRapida.net.