“Not my lucky day” - Bottas rues contact with Ricciardo in Mexico F1 GP

Bottas made a sluggish start from pole position, allowing Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen to make it three-wide on the run down to Turn 1.

Settling into third behind Verstappen and Hamilton, Bottas was hit by Ricciardo into Turn 1, spinning him around and dropping him to the back of the grid.

It was a difficult race for Bottas from then on as he was unable to make his way through the field, eventually finishing in 15th.

“Yes, very, very tricky and for me quite compromised by the first corner incident,” Bottas said.

“He [Ricciardo] really ruined my day today but I’m sure he didn’t do the initial hit on purpose, it compromised his race as well, but he was not ideal for my race today.

“Then I was stuck behind cars that I couldn’t pass. I was also quite limited with the engine and the tyre temperatures, so I couldn’t attack for many laps in a row, so I had to go back and forward and couldn’t find a way to progress.”

Bottas spent the best part of 40 laps stuck behind Ricciardo after the pair stopped for repairs under the Safety Car.

Reflecting on the battle with Ricciardo, Bottas said: “Yes, it was tricky. Obviously they have the same power unit we have, they have good straight-line speed and he was defending well. I just couldn’t find a way past him.”

He was then called in with a few laps to go to take the fastest lap off Verstappen which ensured Mercedes remained top of the F1 constructors’ championship.

When Mercedes initially stopped Bottas, he came out behind race leader Verstappen, who deliberately backed off to stop him from stealing the fastest lap.

Mercedes stopped him again, dropping him behind George Russell to ensure that he got it.

“Yes, it was difficult to find a good traffic window for the fastest lap and, in the end, it worked perfectly well with George, I actually had DRS from him, even after Turn 3, so it was all about trying to find a gap,” he explained.

“With Max, for me it was fine. The team told me I could overtake, I got past him, then I got blue flags again, so it was a bit messy.”