Bottas confident at Monaco: 'I can be on pole here'

Valtteri Bottas faces a nice challenge this weekend. He is of course trying to emerge from the shadow of Lewis Hamilton who has all the Mercedes wins of 2021 to his name. In addition, this circuit is a prestigious one, so many drivers are keen to take victory. This includes the Finnish driver who states that everything must come together perfectly.

Glad to be back

For the driver this is familiar territory, considering he lives in Monaco these days. He tells Motorsport-Total.com: "I live next to the start-finish line most of my time. So it is a unique Grand Prix in every way. When you know all the roads, all the environments next to the track... that's what makes it special. I've made a lot of friends here and that's what makes it unique for me."

Last year the Monaco Grand Prix was cancelled due to the corona pandemic, but of course this year the iconic race is on the calendar. Everything is also ready to start, guaranteeing it will go ahead. Bottas is happy about that, as it turns out: "I'm happy we're here now, also because we didn't race here last year. It's good to be back."

Perfect build-up

To win Monaco to itself, everything in the build-up to the Grand Prix is of great importance. That's what makes it tricky, as Bottas argues that you can't go 'all-in' straight away, as early mistakes can have big consequences due to the limited time in practice. Caution is advised, but focus and a good build-up are also necessary if everything is to turn out positively.

Bottas: "You have to give everything in the third qualifying session. There's so much information you get in a short space of time, so you need to start the weekend as fresh as possible - both mentally and physically. Then hopefully you have enough reserves for the whole race weekend." With that mindset, Bottas seems confident for the upcoming weekend. However, 2019 still has a nasty aftertaste, where he missed out on pole position by a fraction.

"In 2019 I missed pole by less than a tenth, in the last corner. I remember well that I had some understeer and went a bit wide. Then on the upshift, I had spinning wheels on the kerbs, so I lost momentum." For Bottas, it is important that everything runs perfectly now and that starts with the crucial qualifying session. He believes in it in any case, now to make it happen. "I can be on pole if I can manage it," the Finn concludes.